INTRODUCTION:

Traditionally the intelligent quotient (IQ) score, as a measure of cognitive skills and mental abilities, was used alone or together with grades and college entrance tests as the prime measure of one’s intelligence and as a predictor of the likelihood of academic and career success including job performance. However, intelligence test scores alone do not predict the likelihood of life successes or how well individuals perform on the job. Research over the last 20 years has shown that, in addition to traditional IQ, an aggregate of social–emotional abilities and competencies also appear to influence the tasks, demands and judgments of everyday life.

The term emotional intelligence and more recently emotional–social intelligence (ESI), was coined to encompass the set of skills and competencies that involves the ability to use emotions and emotional information to assist reasoning. Gerry Benson (2009)¹. According to Daniel Goleman (1998)² developed a framework of five components that define emotional intelligence which includes personal (self- awareness, self-regulation, motivation) and social (empathy and social skills) competences.

For a profession that requires not only technical expertise but also psychologically oriented care, knowledge about the self in nursing would be crucial to further development and growth of the profession Cowin (2001)³ Why could emotional intelligence be an important factor in nursing? Studies have shown that an emotional intelligent nurse is an individual who can work in harmony with his/her thoughts and feelings Freshwater and Stickley (2004)⁴.The current trend has been to focus on how emotions, in particular emotional intelligence (EI) may enhance decision making and academic success. Humphrey et al (2007)⁵ suggested that cognitive and emotional processing cannot be separated and that emotional processing is an important component of rational thought and as long as the emotions are not in excess.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Research design:

A non-experimental design and exploratory research approach was used.

Setting of the study:

Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab.

Population:

Nursing students of College of Nursing, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab.

Sample size:

150 nursing students.

Sampling technique

Simple random sampling technique (Lotery method without replacement).

Development and description of tool:

The tools used for this study was self- structured Emotional intelligence scale which was 5- point likert scale and its reliability was r = 0.9.

Performance was calculated based on the aggregate of previous percentage of marks obtained and categorizing it according to criteria as laid down by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot and by State Nursing Council (Punjab Nurses Registration Council) in its ordinances.

Data collection procedure

Before commencing the task of data collection formal permission was obtained from the Principal, College of Nursing, CMC and Hospital, Ludhiana. 150 nursing students from B.Sc. Nursing (75) and G.N.M. (75) 1^ST, 2^ndand 3^rd year respectively using Simple random sampling (lottery method without replacement). Verbal consent was taken from the study participants and was told regarding the study and its purpose. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Performance data was collected from records of the students. They were also assured that their responses will be kept confidential and used for research purpose only. The same process was followed throughout the data collection period.

RESULTS:

Distribution of characteristics of 150 students maximum students (62%) were in the age group of 18 – 20 years, 82% were female, 75.33% were Christian, 80 % belongs to nuclear family and 29.33% falls in range of 65 – 69 in academic achievement.

Table -1 Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Sample Characteristics N=150

S.No.	Characteristics	f	%
1.	Age in years
a)	18-20	93	62
b)	21-23	50	33.33
c)	>24	07	4.66
2.	Gender
a)	Male	27	18
b)	Female	123	82
3.	Religion
a)	Hindu	12	8
b)	Muslim	-	-
c)	Sikh	25	16.66
d)	Christian	113	75.33
4.	Type of course
a)	G.N.M	75	50
b)	B.Sc. Nursing	75	50
5.	Class
a)	1^st year	50	33.33
b)	2^nd year	50	33.33
c)	3^rd year	50	33.33
6.	Type of family
a)	Joint	30	20
b)	Nuclear	120	80
7.	Academic achievement (10+2)
a)	≥ 80	11	7.33
b)	75-79	25	16.66
c)	70-74	38	25.33
d)	65-69	44	29.33
e)	<65	32	21.33

Table – 2(a) Distribution of Levels of Emotional Intelligence (EI) Among Students. N=150

Levels of EI	Score	n	%
Very High	> 418	6	4
High	392 – 418	38	25.33
Average	365- 391	62	41.33
Low	337 – 364	34	22.66
Very Low	< 337	10	6.66

Max. score = 500

Min. score = 100

Table 2 (a) depicts that maximum students (41.33%) obtained average emotional intelligence followed by 25.33% with high levels and 22.66% obtained low emotional intelligence score, followed by 6.66% with very low and 4% with very high levels.

Thus it is inferred that students had average emotional intelligence.

Table – 2 (b) and Fig. 1 Mean and Mean Percentage of Areas of Emotional Intelligence (EI) Among Students.

Areas of El	Max. Score Range	Mean	Mean %	Rank
Self- awareness	96	79.01	79.01	2
Self – regulation	92	73.45	73.45	4
Self – motivation	96	79.5	79.5	1
Empathy	87	70.73	70.73	5
Social skills	95	75.12	75.12	3
Total	444	378.96	5.7

Max. score = 500

Min. score = 100

Table- 2(b) and fig. 1 reveals that according to areas of emotional intelligence, self –motivation mean score was higher 79.5 ( 1^st rank) followed by self – awareness 79.01 (2^nd rank ) , social skills with mean score 75.12 (3^rd rank) and self- regulation 73.45 (4^th rank) and least was empathy with mean score of 70.73 (5^th rank).

This showed that self- motivation and self- awareness were higher in students and empathy was least in students.

Hence, it can be concluded that students had more self –motivation.

Table- 3 Percentage Distribution of Levels of Performance among Students. N=150

Levels of Performance	Marks in Percentage (%)	n	%
Excellent	≥ 80	3	2
Good	70 - 79	39	26
Average	60 - 69	96	64
Below Average	50 - 59	12	8

Table 3. depicts that maximum students (64 %) shows average performance followed by 26% students which had good performance and 8% shows below average performance and 2% shows excellent performance. Therefore, it can be concluded that students had average performance.

Table 4 Correlation between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Performance of Students. N = 150

Relationship between	Mean	SD	r
Emotional intelligence	378.97	26.22
and			-0.08
Performance	66.39	6.13

NS = Non Significant

Table 4 and Fig.2 reveals that mean emotional intelligence score of students was 378.97 and mean performance score of students was 66.39 and there was weak negative correlation (- 0.08) between emotional intelligence and performance indicating that if emotional intelligence increases, performance decreases.

Therefore findings suggested inverse relationship between emotional intelligence and performance.

FIG.2 Correlation (r) between emotional intelligence and performance of students.

Table 5: Mean and Standard Deviation of Components of Emotional Intelligence (EI) According to Categories of Performance among Students. N=150

	Components of Emotional Intelligence (EI)
Categories of Performance	Self-Awareness		Self- Regulation		Motivation		Empathy		Social Skills		Total
Categories of Performance	Mean	S.D.	Mean	S.D.	Mean	S.D.	Mean	S.D.	Mean	S.D.	Mean	S.D.
Excellent (n=3)	77	6.24	78	10.14	83	6.08	70.66	5.5	78	10.8	389	32.96
Good (n-39)	78.8	7.9	73.9	6.4	77.6	9.08	70.07	5.39	73.5	8.34	374.4	28.5
Average (n=96)	79.28	7.25	73.52	6.49	79.5	7.8	71.5	4.8	75.2	7.7	380.05	24.9
Below average (n=12)	81.08	6.72	75.6	5.8	83	6.74	7.08	5.5	79.16	8.7	380.5	29.84

Fig. 3 Comparative mean of performance among students according to religion.

Table – 5 depicts that as per the components of emotional intelligence (EI) , mean motivation score was highest (83) among students with excellent performance and below average performance , followed by average (79.5) and good performance (79.5), whereas the mean empathy score was highest (79.16) among students with below average performance and least in students with good performance (73.5).

Furthermore, mean self- awareness score was highest (81.08) among students with below average performance and low among students with excellent performance (77). The mean self–regulation score was highest (78) in students with excellent performance and least among students with average performance (73.52), followed by mean social skill score which were highest (79.16) in below average performance and least in students with good performance (73.5).

Thus, it can be inferred that as a component of EI, motivation had its impact on performance as compared to other components of EI. Thus, it is observed that higher the motivation better was the performance whereas empathy had least impact on performance.

Table – 6 Mean, Standard Deviation and ANOVA of Performance among Students According to Religion. N=150

		Performance
Religion		n		Mean		SD
Hindu		12		67.42		6.78
Sikh		25		69.24		5.28
Christian		113		65.65		6.08
Source of variation	df		Sum of squares	Mean	F		p
BG	2		278.25	139.2
and					3.84^*		0.02
WG	147		5317.31	36.17
TOTAL	149		5595.57

* at p< 0.05 level.

\Table 6 and fig.3 depict that mean performance score was higher (69.24) among students in Sikh religion followed by Hindu (67.42) and least in Christian (65.65).The calculated value of F between and within the group was 3.84 and value of F for (2, 147) degree of freedom was 3.06 at 0.05 level, which was more than the tabled value. Therefore, there was significant difference in performance of students in respect to their religion. Thus, it can be inferred that religion had significant impact on performance.

DISCUSSION:

In the present study it was concluded that maximum students (39.33%) had average level of EI and minimum students (4.66%) had very high level of EI, whereas (25.33%) students had high level of EI and (23.33%) had low level of EI followed by (7.33%) with very low level of EI. The findings reveal that students had average emotional intelligence. These findings were supported by Nirmala (2010)⁶ who found that the students had average mean EI score in his study on assessing emotional intelligence in students in Eritrea institute of technology.In another study for assessing nursing student’s and emotional intelligence in turkey, student’s emotional intelligence score was average Duygulu (2011)⁷.

To assess performance of students maximum students (64 %) had average performance followed by 26% students which had good performance, 8% had below average performance and 2% had excellent performance. The findings reveal that students had average performance. These findings were supported by Beauvais (2010)⁸ in his study to assess emotional intelligence and nursing performance among nursing students, students had moderate nursing performance.

To ascertain relationship between emotional intelligence and performance. The findings reveal that there was weak negative correlation (- 0.081) and inverse relationship between emotional intelligence and performance and was non – significant at p= 0.05 level. The findings were supported by Wafika (2010)⁹ in his study to assess relationship between emotional social intelligence, and academic success of undergraduate nursing students. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed no significant relationship between emotional social intelligence and academic success. Findings were further supported by Fruh (2005)¹⁰ who found no significant relationship between any of the EQ-i scores and clinical performance ratings.

CONCLUSION:

· Maximum students (39.33%) had average level of EI and maximum students (64 %) had average performance. The findings reveal that maximum students had average EI and performance.

· Motivation as a component of EI had its impact on performance as compared to other components of EI. Thus, it is observed that higher the motivation better was the performance whereas empathy had least impact on performance.

· There was high positive correlation between self- regulation and excellent performance and negative correlation between self- awareness and below average performance.

· Findings revealed inverse relationship between emotional intelligence and performance.

· No significant relationship was revealed between emotional intelligence and demographic variables.

· Only religion and academic achievement had impact on performance of students.

IMPLICATIONS:

Implications of the Study

The findings of the study indicate that students had average emotional intelligence and performance. Earlier identification of strengths and weaknesses in emotional intelligence competencies may assist nursing students as they seek goals for learning and personal growth during their college experience. Measurement of emotional intelligence may hold great potential not only in terms of predicting which students are likely to succeed in a given program of study, but also improving the quality of assessment and feedback available to those students.

Nursing Practice

While nursing work involves cognitive and technical skills, there has been increasing recognition of the interpersonal and intrapersonal skills required to cope with the complex demands of modern health care systems.

· The use of emotional intelligence concepts may provide fresh insights into ways to keep nurses engaged in practice and to improve nurse retention and patient/client outcomes.

· Self-awareness has long been addressed as fundamental for the professional nurse with the accepted view that self-awareness will lead to greater competence.

Nursing Administration

· Nurse administrator as an educator provide in –service education programme for staff nurses who are working in intensive care unit, psychiatric units to enhance their EI competencies.

· Nurse managers should create a motivational environment in which nurses are empowered and in which work satisfaction are promoted towards continuous outstanding performances

Nursing Education

It is important to mention the implication of the present study for the education system.

· The findings of investigation may provide help to the college personnel, teachers, counselors and guidance workers to develop suitable methods of teaching and instruction so as to develop emotional intelligence which is essential for high academic achievement. The cumulative value of which in a four-year institution will be a good determinant of its failure or success.

· The findings can be used to develop the performance enhancement intervention programs for the students.

· Assessment of individuals with low EI could provide suggestion for education and skill training, feedback to individuals with average or high emotional intelligence ability might give them a great awareness.

Mental health nursing

· EI stimulates the search for a deeper understanding of a professional mental health nursing identity.

· It is essential that mental health nurse has a feeling for and understanding of the need and inner despair of the clients, while at same time maintain self- awareness and being capable of differentiating between their own and their clients’ feeling.

Nursing Research

The findings of the study suggest that EI research is still in its infancy and further research is needed before we can fully understand the role of EI.

· The increasing nursing shortage and turnover rates signify the importance of research in the EI level of nursing personnel.

· The findings imply multiple types of intelligence related to nursing science as well as further research possibilities within the area of EI and research in nursing requires development and careful consideration of criticisms related to EI outside nursing is recommended.

· In addition, the list of emotional intelligence competencies provides measurable outcomes that can be quantified and monitored over time.

Recommendations:

· The study needs to be replicated in a large sample size to validate and generalize its findings.

· The study may be done to assess emotional intelligence and job performance of staff nurses working in different settings like intensive care units, psychiatric unit, pediatric unit and emergency unit.

· A comparative study can be conducted to study emotional intelligence of students working in general ward and psychiatric unit.

REFERENCES:

1. Benson, G. Jenny P. A cross sectional study of emotional intelligence in baccalaureate nursing students. Nursing Education Today. Volume 40, Number 5. 2009:Pp. 2 – 6.

2. Goleman, D. Working with emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books .1998.

3. Cowin, L. Measuring Nurses’ Self-Concept. Western Journal of Nursing Research. Volume 23, Number 3. 2001: Pp. 313-325.

4. Freshwater,D. T. Stickley. The Heart of the Art: Emotional Intelligence and Nursing Education. Nursing Inquiry. Volume 11, Number 2. 2004: Pp. 91-98.

5. Humprey, N.C. Moris, E. Emotional Intelligence and Education: A Critical Review. Educational Psychology. Volume 27. 2007: Pp. 235 -54.

6. Nirmala. J. Emotional Intelligence among College Students in Eritrea. Experiments in Education . volume 38, Number1. 2010: Pp. 1- 8.

7. Duygulu, S. Hicdurmaz D. Akyar. I. Nursing Students’ Leadership and Emotional Intelligence in Turkey. Journal of Nursing Education. 2011: Pp. 1- 5.

8. Beauvais, AM. Brady, N. Emotional Intelligence and Nursing Performance among Nursing Students. Nurse Education Today. 2010; Aug 23.

9. Fruh, M.J. The Correlation of Emotional Intelligence, Academic Achievement And Clinical Performance In Undergraduate Athletic Training. 2005.

10. Suliman, Wafika A.The Relationship between Learning Styles, Emotional Social Intelligence, and Academic Success of Undergraduate Nursing Students. Journal of Nursing Research. Volume 18, Number 2. 2010: Pp. 136- 38.

Received on 21.06.2014 Modified on 27.06.2014

Asian J. Nur. Edu. & Research 4(3): July- Sept., 2014; Page 346-351