The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Humanistic Caring Ability Among Nursing Students

Objective: To explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and humanistic caring ability among nursing students, and to provide a theoretical basis and practical reference for enhancing their humanistic caring ability. Methods: A stratified cluster sampling method was adopted to select a total of 511 nursing students from different colleges. A total of 505 valid questionnaires were finally included in the analysis. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the Caring Ability Inventory (CAI), and the Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS). Pearson correlation analysis was employed to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and humanistic caring ability. Results: The total score of humanistic caring ability among nursing students was 185.45 ± 23.43, indicating a relatively low level. The total score of emotional intelligence was 128.94 ± 15.39, indicating a moderately high level. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between the total scores of emotional intelligence and humanistic caring ability (r = 0.666, p < 0.001). Moreover, each dimension of emotional intelligence was significantly positively correlated with each dimension of humanistic caring ability (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Nursing students demonstrated an overall low level of humanistic caring ability. Those with higher levels of emotional intelligence performed better in terms of humanistic caring. It is recommended that the cultivation of emotional intelligence be systematically integrated into nursing education, in order to enhance nursing students’ emotional recognition and regulation abilities, and thereby improve their level of humanistic caring.