The Beneficial Effects of Emotional Intelligence Training for Critical Care Nurses on Job Burnout: A Quasi-Experimental Study

BACKGROUND: Critical care nurses are at especially high risk of burnout. Burnout is a maladaptive response to work-related stress that is associated with negative consequences for patients. Emotional intelligence enables nurses to make better decisions and manage their patients more effectively. It impacts positively on the quality of care. This study aimed to assess the effect of emotional intelligence training on job burnout for nurses at the critical care units. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted at two critical care units: the Cardiac Surgery Academy and El Demerdash Hospital, both of which are affiliated to Ain Shams University. The subjects were 200 critical care nurses. Each group of nurses trained for five sessions, each lasting about two hours, in the form of seminars. Researchers collected data through self-administered questionnaires containing three parts (demographic data of nurses, Wong and Law’s Emotional Intelligence Scale and Maslach burnout inventory). RESULTS: For emotional intelligence, the mean (SD) score of studied nurses pre-intervention was 19.95 (6.30), while post intervention it was 36.4 (9.57), a significant difference (t = 14.01 p = <0.01). Regarding burnout, the mean score of studied nurses pre-intervention was 59.61 (19.58), while post intervention it was 89.90 (19.60), (t = 16.05 p = <0.01). The regression model explains 67% of the variation in total emotional intelligence detected through R(2) value 0.67 (F = 12.980 p = <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed that emotional intelligence training had positive effects on nurses’ experience of burnout at work. Providing educational training programs about emotional intelligence for newly hired nurses is recommended.