Emotional Intelligence of Primary Health Care Nurses: A Longitudinal Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Background In recent years, emotional intelligence has become essential in the health profession. Objective This study recorded, investigated, and evaluated the emotional intelligence of primary health care nurses by means of an educational intervention in Greece. Methods This randomized clinical trial was conducted using a longitudinal experimental design. After obtaining written informed consent from each participant, the total study sample consisted of 101 higher education nurses working in primary health care in Greece. Two groups were created: the control group (51 participants) and the intervention group (50 participants). Both groups initially completed the questionnaire (pre-test). This was immediately followed by an educational intervention where only the intervention group participated, while there was no educational intervention in the control group. Finally, all participants, regardless of group, completed again the same questionnaire (post-test). The data were analyzed using a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Pearson's x2 test, Fisher's exact test, Student's t-test, non-parametric Mann-Whitney test, and the repeated measurement ANOVA. Results The study results indicated that the educational intervention had a positive effect on the intervention group, as the levels of emotional intelligence showed significant changes between the first and second measurements. Specifically, in the intervention group, in the “self-emotion appraisal” dimension, there was an increase in emotional scores by 0.38 (p-value 0.001) between the two measurements. In the “emotion appraisal of others” dimension, there was an increase of 0.27 (p-value 0.011); for the dimension “use of emotion”, it was 0.26 (p-value 0.05), and for the dimension “regulation of emotion”, it was 0.37 (p-value 0.008). Conclusion The interventions aiming at developing emotional intelligence have a positive impact, as they improve nurses’ emotional skills. Emotional intelligence courses may be included in the nursing department curriculum, as well as in similar programs for nursing staff. Clinical Trial Registration Reference IRCT 20240126060816N1