Effect of emotional intelligence (EI) on students' reactions to affective events during clinical placement

Health Workforce Australia (2012) has predicted a shortfall of 109,000 nurses Australia wide by 2025. One of the recommendations to avoid a potential crisis in workforce supply is to increase retention of nursing students in their education programs (HWA, 2012). Extant research has identified that nursing students experience high levels of stress. Social, academic and emotional challenges can result in program withdrawal, making inefficient use of scarce health resources (O'Donnell, 2009; Pryjmachuk, Easton, & Littlewood, 2009; Wilson, Chur-Hansen, Marshall, & Air, 2011). Nurses often make clinical judgements during emotionally charged situations. Therefore, it follows that nursing students need to develop adaptive emotion regulation skills early in their programs to develop competent nursing abilities. Yet, ways of managing emotional responses in clinical placement is a neglected area in nursing education. Despite mounting evidence that emotional distress contributes to attrition and potentially a reduced quality of patient care, there are few published reports in the nursing literature. The aim of this mixed methods study is to evaluate the effect of emotional intelligence (EI) on students’ reactions to affective events during clinical placement in a sample of first year undergraduate nursing and midwifery students. A Process Model of Affective Response (PMAR) developed by Ashkanasy, Ashton-James and Jordan, (2004) has been adapted to allow practical application of EI theory to nursing student ability to manage their responses to affective events in clinical practice. The adapted PMAR attempts to provide a mechanism for investigation of whether a nursing student’s ability to appraise and cope with the affective event, may be moderated by EI (Ashkanasy et al., 2004). The ability model of EI as developed by Mayer, Salovey and Caruso (2002) provides the theoretical framework in which to base the inquiry. The results will inform the creation of educational strategies aimed at increasing retention rates by supporting the growth of emotion regulation resources in nursing students.