Effect of Emotional Intelligence Education Intervention on Nursing Students’ Emotional Intelligence Level in Nepal

Introduction: Emotional intelligence (EI) is increasingly recognized as an important attribute in healthcare professions, with a growing acknowledgment of its pivotal role in providing patient-centered care. A high emotional intelligence will promote comprehensive coping skills to address stress, conflict, or any negative behavior in academics and work-related environments. Objective: To assess the effect of emotional intelligence education intervention on nursing students’ emotional intelligence level in Nepal. Methods: A true experimental pretest and posttest control group design was adopted for the study. A total of 240 (120 in each study and control group) nursing students enrolled in final year at selected private nursing campuses of province 2 in Nepal were selected for the study by cluster random sampling. The data was collected using self-administered structured questionnaire and Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT). Both descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean, Standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Mann Whitney test and Wilcoxon test) were used to analyze data in SPSS vs20. Results: The findings of the study revealed that there was no significant difference of pretest mean EI score between study and control group as P >0.05, whereas the mean EI scores were significantly higher in study group than the control group as P<0.0001 after emotional intelligence education intervention. Similarly, the study findings also revealed that there was significant difference within study group before and after the intervention as p<0.0001. This shows that there was significant effect of Emotional intelligence education intervention program on study group, whereas in control group there was no significant difference as P˃0.05 Conclusion: The present study findings showed that emotional intelligence improved after introducing education intervention for the study subjects with significant improvements across all subscales post intervention. It is recommended that emotional intelligence courses should be included in curriculum of nursing for students to improve emotional intelligence thereby enhancing their self-esteem and quality of life. Keywords: Education program, Emotional Intelligence, Nursing students, Nepal