Shawnee Cuthbert

Research Dissemination
NUR335
Emotional Intelligence and Nursing Leadership Styles
Among Nurse Managers
Summary:
o High levels of stress and increasing amounts of responsibility are characteristics of
nursing management
o E.I. is a useful tool that can enhance psychological resiliency to stress and enhance
transformational leadership style.
o Emotional Intelligence the ability to motivate oneself and persist in the face of
frustrations; to control impulses and delay gratificational to regulate ones moods and
keep distress from swamping the ability to think; to empathize and hope.
o Emotional intelligence scores of NM were positively correlated with patient outcomes,
MD and patient satisfaction, reduced staff turnover, and increased staff resilience.
o EI is a skill that can be learned and institutions should incorporate EI training.
o Correlation between EI and successful nurse leaders is well documented.
o Transformational leadership styles were found to be the most effective
o To cope, leaders need to be resilient and agile, able to accept complex change, be
emotionally intelligent, and able to help others move forward and achieve success.
o STUDY EXPLORED THE LEVEL OF AND RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EI AND
LEADERSHIP STYLES AMONG NM.
o METHODS Descriptive exploratory study, using a convienience sample of NM in 6
hospitals in Wisconsin and Illinois.
o DATA COLLECTION- Leadership questionnaire and an Emotional Survey questions
with a 5point likert scale. 142 NM surveyed.
o FINDINGS- High majority of NM with high EI scores that used transformational
leadership styles. Significant positive relationships were noted between EI and
Transformational leadership and its outcomes.
o 1/3 of NM were 61 or older, indicating a need to prepare future NM
(62% had previous EI training and 3/4 had previous leadership training, however shows that EI
and transf. leadership can be taught)

RN Viewpoint:
o BSN for managementmore leadership theory
o Rewards, personal note cards sent to home
o Agrees with transformational style; still need to possess some authority but need to still
have trust and respect among staff.
o Authoritative and Laisse-Faire styles do not effectively work.
o Need a certain of Emotional Intelligence to win people over.
o Having Emotional Intelligence, need to be well rounded, emotionally stable, and able to
keep own emotions in check.
o Management is a middleman; convey information between staff and directors.
Take-home points:
o Nurse Managers need to possess emotional intelligence to be successful
o NM needs to be unique, well-wounded individuals that receives respect among staff and
motivates staff to be successful.
o Transformational leadership style- focuses on the vision and power of the group.
o Effective leadership comes from fairness and respect.
o IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING:
Offering course content, continuing ed., or professional development
opportunities to develop EI, and transformational leadership could have significant
implications for nursing educational institutions, healthcare systems and the quality of
management skills in their nursing students and current and future NM.