Personality, emotional intelligence, and its relationship to caring self-efficacy among emergency department staff nurses of an acute care hospital in London, United Kingdom

Abstract

Nurses have long since recognized the special roles of their colleagues working in then-called “first aid rooms” or “emergency rooms”. The role of these nurses is difficult yet critical to patient care as they are in the front lines, face different cases of varying acuity with continuous prioritizations, and treat patients across the lifespan, from the youngest to oldest. Emergency nursing is a unique specialty with unique challenges including increasing workplace violence, the opioid crisis, psychiatric health issues, understaffing, overcrowding, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to commit to certain attainments and expectations amidst present and/or perceived challenges is governed by the concept of self-efficacy, a product of social learning theory by Dr. Albert Bandura. Looking into this concept and its relationship to individual ED nurses’ personality and emotional intelligence is an attempt to bridge the gap in knowledge, trying to understand what is unique among emergency nurses’ commitment to provide emergency care to patients in an extremely challenging environment and in the most critical moments of their lives. This study described ED nurses caring efficacy using the Caring Self-Efficacy scale and its relationship to ED nurses’ personality using the Big Five Inventory and global emotional intelligence with the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test. Through total enumeration, 52 ED nurses from University College London Hospital in the UK participated in the study after the approval of UPOU Ethics Review Board. Data were then collected, collated, and interpreted using descriptive statistical methods, point-biserial correlation, Kendall’s Tau-b, and Pearson’s correlation with multiple linear regression. Results of the study showed that UCLH ED nurses who are majority female (f=35) and has 1 to 3 years of experience (f=23), their personality profile showed high in agreeableness (M=4.2), average in conscientiousness (M=3.9), openness to experience (M=3.7), and extraversion (M=3.3), and low in neuroticism (M=2.6). These ED nurses also have average global emotional intelligence and average caring self efficacy. Pearson’s product moment correlation showed a moderate positive correlation between agreeableness and caring-self efficacy (r=.522) and was deemed the most significant personality dimension among others (p<.01). The ED nurses’ global emotional intelligence also indicated a significant moderate positive correlation to caring self-efficacy (r=.407, p<.01). Emergency nurses of UCLH were deemed primarily compassionate, kind, and empathetic. This showed that among other personality traits, these helped ED nurses to commit to providing emergency care for patients amidst the challenges they face in the ED. Emotional intelligence, which is considered an important predictor for workplace productivity, also showed a significant relationship to caring self efficacy. As ED nurses improve and develop their ability to reflect on their own emotions and understand the emotions of their patients, the more they’re able to provide quality emergency nursing care to patients steadfastly.