Abstract
Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to a person’s ability to recognise their own feelings and those of others, and to manage those feelings and behave in a socially acceptable way. EI has become a vital competency in healthcare leadership, with nurse managers playing a key role in fostering positive work environments, resolving conflicts, building trust, promoting staff well-being, and delivering high-quality patient care. Despite the importance of nursing leadership, limited research has specifically examined how nurse managers understand and use EI in this context. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe nurse managers’ perceptions of EI in a public hospital in Saudi Arabia and to develop recommendations to enhance their EI and optimise their leadership skills.
A qualitative, descriptive, exploratory, and contextual research design was utilised in this study. The target population consisted of nurse managers from a public hospital in Saudi Arabia, selected through purposive sampling. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted until data saturation was achieved, which occurred by the tenth interview. Two additional interviews were conducted to confirm data saturation, and field notes were also collected.
Braun and Clark’s thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. To ensure trustworthiness, the researcher adhered to the principles of credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability. Furthermore, all ethical principles were adhered to throughout this study to protect participants’ rights. A central theme of the study was the realisation, leveraging, and cultivation of EI, supported by four main themes and subthemes: understanding EI; its impact on leadership and working relationships; EI as a tool for managing work-related stress and burnout; and training and development of nurses in EI. The literature was integrated to conceptualise the findings, and recommendations were made to improve nurse managers’ EI and leadership abilities. Concurrently, the study’s limitations, reflections, and conclusions were also presented.