Determination of Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence and Autism Awareness Levels of Paediatric Nurses

Objective: To determine the relationship between emotional intelligence, social intelligence, and autism awareness levels of paediatric nurses. Materials and Methods: The study population comprised paediatric nurses. The effect size was calculated based on existing literature, resulting in a value of 0.30 for Cohen's d. The G*Power 3.1.9.7 program was used to estimate the sample size, which was determined to be 82 individuals. The data were collected between January and June 2024 using the Information Form, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire—Short Form (TEIQue-SF), Tromso Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS), and Knowledge about Childhood Autism among Health Workers Questionnaire (KCAHW). The data were analysed using the SPSS 22.0 program, employing descriptive statistics and parametric or non-parametric tests for comparative data. Findings: The mean age of the study participants was 28.45±4.93 years old. Participants' working years as nurses were 5.93±4.94 years, while their working years as paediatric nurses were 4.24±3.54 years. The total score for the TEIQue-SF was 101.78 ± 14.71, for the TSIS it was 82.61 ± 4.24, and for the KCAHW it was 14.71 ± 4.24. The study revealed that the total and sub-dimension TEIQue-SF score was influenced by gender, education status, and Perception of competence regarding autism spectrum disorder (p<0.05). Worked years as a nurse, working areas with paediatric patients, and experience caring for a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder affected scale sub-dimension scores of TSIS. KCAHW sub-dimension was influenced by education status, and caring for a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder affected sub-dimension scores. (p<0.05). The study found no correlation between the participant's age, number of children, years working as a nurse, years working as a paediatric nurse, mean TEIQue-SF and TSIS scores, and KCAHW total scores. Conclusion: The study's findings determined that different variables affected paediatric nurses’ emotional intelligence, social intelligence, and autism awareness levels. In this context, the findings obtained on the subject are of great importance for the field of study and also emphasize the need for further research. Key words: Autism awareness, Emotional intelligence, Paediatric nurse, Social intelligence