Model of emotional intelligence for the facilitation of wholeness of critical care nurses in South Africa

D.Cur.The overall objective of this research study was to develop a model of emotional intelligence for the facilitation of wholeness in critical care nurses in South Africa. Critical care nurses often nurse three or more critically ill patients during one shift (Fiakus, 1998). The environment in the critical care unit is highly stressful, highly emotionally charged and emotionally demanding for the nurses that work there. This can lead to the nurse developing burnout (Coates, 2001 ). Burnout in a critical care nurse can have devastating consequences such as decreased well-being of the nurse, decreased quality of care, poor communication and increased costs to the employer related to absenteeism and high staff turnover (Poncet, Toullic, Papazian, Kentish-Barnes, Timsit, Pochard, Chevret, Schlemmer & Azoulay, 2006). In a study by Shipley, Jackson and Segrest (2004), it was found that staff with increased emotional intelligence enjoyed better emotional health and more satisfaction both at home and at work. The question that arose was what is the emotional intelligence of critical care nurses in South Africa. A theory-generative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used. The research study was carried out using a modification of the method of theory generation as described by Chinn and Kramer (1985). Step one dealt with the empirical phase in which the main concept was distilled from the results of the data analysis. The quantitative research design used for this phase was a typical descriptive survey design. The entire accessible population (N=380) consisted of registered nurses that attended the Critical Care Congress in 2009. They represented a wide range of registered nurses that worked or had worked in critical care in both the private and public health sectors in South Africa. The data collection instrument consisted of a biographical datasheet from which the sample (n=220) was divided into various context groups. Participation was voluntary and all participants signed a consent form. The second part of the data collection instrument consisted of the Trait Emotional Intelligence short form (TEIQue-SF). The data was analysed using SPSS. The sample consisted mainly of a group of mature, female and professionally experienced critical care nurses. They held a variety of job descriptions in critical care nursing. Nurses who are older and have more experience in critical care appear to have a higher range of emotional intelligence. This was also confirmed in a study by Shipley et al. (2004) in which emotional intelligence was associated with work experience. Based on the tests of normality, there was no significant difference in the emotional intelligence of the various context groups that were identified from the single sample (n=220). The exploratory factor analysis identified eight factors as having eigenvalues greater than 1. The statistical evidence pointed to concentrating on factors 1 and 2, and pragmatically these two factors became the focus of the model, as they form the central essence of emotional intelligence of the critical care nurse. The facilitation of inherent affective and mental resourcefulness and resilience was the main concept of the model. Step two comprised the definition and classification of the central and related concepts. This was achieved by finding dictionary meanings and their subject usage. The attributes identified were synthesised to form a definition in chapter five. Step three provided a description of the model. A visual application of the model was shown in chapter six, which highlighted the concepts as proposed by Dickoff, James and Wiedenbach (1968). Three stages of the process of facilitation of emotional intelligence were used to develop the inherent affective and mental resourcefulness and resilience of the critical care nurse. Step four entailed the description of guidelines for operationalising the model in practice to facilitate the emotional intelligence of the critical care nurse in South Africa. Evaluation of the model was undertaken according to Chinn and Kramer (1991 ). To ensure valid results a model of trustworthiness proposed by Guba (1981, in Krefting, 1999) was utilised for the macro argument for the total model. In this study ethical conduct was applied as described by Burns and Grove (2009). The limitations of the research study are highlighted in chapter seven and recommendations of the model for nursing practice, nursing research and nursing education are also made