J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs.  2016 Dec;25(4):283-293. 10.12934/jkpmhn.2016.25.4.283.

Influence of Emotional Intelligence and Empathy on the Facilitative Communication Ability of Psychiatric Nurses

• Oh EJ
• Lee MH
• Ko SH

• KMID: 2365417
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2016.25.4.283

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among emotional intelligence, empathy and facilitative communication ability of psychiatric nurses.
METHODS
Participants were 173 conveniently selected psychiatric nurses from 10 hospitals in Korea. Data were collected from June to September, 2015 through self-reported questionnaires.
RESULTS
Facilitative communication ability was significantly different depending on educational level (t=6.06, p=.003). There were significant positive correlations between emotional intelligence and facilitative communication ability (r=.61, p<.001), and also between empathy and facilitative communication ability (r=.63, p<.001). In the multiple regression, except for education level, emotional intelligence (β=.17, p=.003) and empathy (β=.21, p=.000) explained 38.2% of the variance in facilitative communication ability.
CONCLUSION
These findings indicate that emotional intelligence and empathy are important factors in psychiatric nurses' facilitative communication ability. Accordingly, to improve the facilitative communication ability of psychiatric nurses, educational programs based on development of emotional intelligence and empathy are necessary.

Keyword

Communication; Emotional intelligence; Empathy; Psychiatric nurse

MeSH Terms

Communication*
Education
Emotional Intelligence*
Empathy*
Korea