Higher levels of emotional intelligence have been associated with better personal practice. Clinical decision-making, as the best solution for patients' problems, is a crucial factor in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between nurses' emotional intelligence and clinical decision making.


 

This study is a correlation-descriptive study. A total of 269 nurses working in the hospitals affiliated with Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences were selected using a random stratified sampling in 2018. The data collection tools were standard questionnaires of Shearing emotional intelligence and Laurie clinical decision-making questionnaire. Statistical analysis was done using descriptive and analytical statistics, by SPSS 16.

The analysis of the results showed that the average total score of nurses' clinical decision making is 67.18. In the analysis of the clinical decision-making questionnaire by Lauri et al., the score is between 68 and 78, determining the second level of decision-making as intuitive; therefore, it can be understood that clinical decision making in nurses of hospitals affiliated to Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences is intuitive. Considering that intuitive decision making is the second rank of Lauri et al.'s clinical decision-making questionnaire, the level of clinical decision making of nurses in the present study is moderate. In this regard, the results of Shahraki Moghadam, Manzari and Ghandehari research showed that nurses' participation in all three stages of clinical decision-making including problem recognition, solution presentation and solution implementation was at a moderate level [17]. This finding is consistent with the results of the present study. Also, based on the results of Arzani, Lotfi and Abedi, nurses and operating room technicians have evaluated their role in decision-making regarding intraoperative care and low before and after surgery [18].
Findings showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between emotional intelligence and clinical decision making in nurses. Also in this regard, the results of Heydari, Kareshki and Armat study showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the level of emotional intelligence and clinical competence of nurses [21]. Moreover, the study of Farshi, Vahidi and Jabraeili showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between emotional intelligence and clinical competence of nursing students [22].
According to the results, the mean score of clinical decision making does not differ significantly in terms of age and work experience. Also, there was no significant difference between the mean score of clinical decision making in terms of gender and level of education. In this regard, Lak Dizaji et al. concluded that clinical decision-making was statistically significantly related to age and gender, but this relationship was not significantly related to education [28], which only differs in terms of gender from the recent study. Also, the study of Arzani, Lotfi and Abedi showed that with the increase of clinical experience of operating room nurses, their decision-making power is improved [18], which confirms the results of the present study.
 Also, the mean score of emotional intelligence is significantly different in terms of age, work experience and education, but in terms of gender, the mean score of emotional intelligence is not significantly different. In this regard, the results of Rasheed et al.'s study showed that emotional intelligence is significantly different in terms of gender and work experience [29], which is similar to work in the present study, but different in terms of gender with the results of the present study, but in this regard, Khan et al.’s findings showed that there is no significant difference between emotional intelligence in terms of age, education and clinical experience, but there is a significant difference in terms of gender [30]. In this context, self-knowledge and other knowledge increase with age and work experience, and as a result, emotional intelligence is strengthened [20]. Therefore, nurses with more work experience and higher education may report higher mean emotional intelligence scores due to their deeper self-awareness and feelings. However, the difference between the results of the studies and the recent study in some of the mentioned demographic variables can be different due to the difference of contextual factors such as the provision of nursing care in only one specialized department, culture and country.

 

With regard to the relationship between emotional intelligence and clinical decision-making, the importance of emotional intelligence in nurses is determined. Therefore, hospital managers need to provide new ways to enhance nurses' emotional intelligence, thereby enhancing the ability of clinical.

 

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology of Shahrekord Islamic Azad University for approving the present research project with the code 13310706961002 and also to all the nurses who cooperated with us.

 

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.