The Importance of EI in Nursing

What is EI? We are glad you asked! EI stands for emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. It is generally said to include three skills: emotional awareness; the ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving; and the ability to manage emotions, which includes regulating your own emotions and cheering up or calming down other people.

This is especially important in nursing! A nurse with a strong emotional intelligence will lead and excel in the field.

There are steps you can take to increase your emotional intelligence:

• Work with a therapist or counselor on stressful personal issues
• Learn to change your expectations to control feelings of rejection or anger
• Use stress reduction techniques to decrease stress
• Cultivate more understanding of your own emotions
• Learn assertive communication techniques
• Practice strong listening skills
• Increase your emotional resilience

When you can better understand yourself, you can better understand others. When you can better understand and handle others, you become the nurse that every patient wants to have! Working on all of these aspects of your emotional intelligence will make you a better nurse!