The relationship between nurses' emotional intelligence levels and patient-centered care competence

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between nurses' emotional intelligence levels and their patient-centered care competencies. Material and Method: This descriptive and correlational study was conducted with nurses working at State Hospital in a province in the Black Sea region. The population of the study consists of a total of 361 nurses working in internal and surgical wards (132 nurses), intensive care units (112 nurses), and other specialized units such as emergency, operating room, and dialysis (117 nurses) the State Hospital. The sample size was determined to be 187 nurses using the sample calculation formula from the known population. Considering a 10% data loss during the research process, the sample size was increased to 206 nurses. A total of 228 nurses were included in the study. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews by the researcher between May and June 2024, using the 'Personal Information Form,' 'Emotional Intelligence Scale (TEIQue-SF),' and 'Patient-Centered Care Competence Scale (PCC).' The data were analyzed by an expert statistician using appropriate statistical software and evaluated within a confidence interval of p<0.05. Results: The average age of the nurses was 38.17±8.88 years; 80.3% were women, 71.3% were married, and 68.6% had children. The average length of professional experience was 15.90±9.31 years; 65.5% had been working in their profession for more than 10 years, and 92.8% served as clinical nurses in their units. Regarding patient care, 33.2% of the nurses reported a patient care rate of 51-75%, and 53.4% worked in a unit with task sharing/patient-centered work. Additionally, 32.3% of the nurses had received training on emotional intelligence, and 55.6% had received training on patient-centered care. The total score for Emotional Intelligence (TEIQue-SF) was 96.32±18.02, and the total score for the Patient-Centered Care Competence Scale (PCC) was 70.73±8.83. In the EQ scale, the highest score was in the 'Well-being' subdimension, and the lowest was in the 'Emotionality' subdimension. In the PCC, the highest score was in the 'Respecting Patient Perspectives' subdimension, and the lowest was in the 'Advocating for Patient Rights.' A positive, low-level correlation was found between the total scores of TEIQue-SF and PCC (r= 0.311, p< 0.01). Furthermore, the total score of TEIQue-SF explained 9.3% of the variance in the total score of PCC. Conclusions: In this study, it was found that nurses' emotional intelligence levels were at a moderate level, while their patient-centered care competencies were at a high level. A statistically significant, positive, and low-level relationship was identified between the nurses' emotional intelligence scale and the patient-centered care competency scale. As nurses' emotional intelligence levels increase, their patient-centered care competencies also improve. Keywords: Care, emotional intelligence, patient-centered care, nurse, competence