Evaluation of Emotional Intelligence and Social Media Usage in Nurses and Nursing Students

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Evaluation of Emotional Intelligence and Social Media Usage in Nurses and Nursing Students

Journal Title: Scholars Journal of Applied Medical Sciences - Year 2018, Vol 6, Issue 5

Abstract

Abstract: Emotional intelligence can help us to assess information about emotions in everyday life as well as to reflect the energy created by them to our work and school life. Healthcare professionals with good emotional intelligence can also establish good relations with patients from various ethnic backgrounds. In parallel with the worldwide growing use of social media its use by healthcare professionals to reach knowledge, to maintain personal development, to improve health and to share experience about risks is also increasing. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of emotional intelligence and social media use in practicing nurses and nursing students in order to examine whether they contribute to personal and professional development of nurses. The universe of this study included nurses and nursing students in. Trakya University Nursing School and nurses who were working in Trakya University Health Center for Medical Research and Practice. Our study included 133 volunteers and conducted between February and October 2017. Seventy-eight of them was nursing students and 55 were nurses. Social Media Attitude Scale (SMAS) was used to evaluate social media use. To evaluate emotional intelligence Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) was used. Evaluation of the two groups (students and nurses) showed statistically significant differences in both SMAS and Bar-On scales. The mean SMAS score was 62.7 in nursing students and 53.9 in nurses. EQ-i score in nursing students was 291.9 and in nurses was 274.3. The mean scores of the nursing students who were continuing their education in the university were higher than practicing nurses. The nursing students used social media significantly more frequently than the nurses. Social media use more than once a day was more common in the students than the nurses. Duration of time spent in each entry to social media was more in the nursing students than the nurses. The nurses spent more time for social media at home while the nursing students spent more time outdoors. Relationship between SMAS and Bar-On Scale scores and between these two scale scores and age were evaluated with Pearson correlation coefficient. Scores from the scales tended to decrease with increasing age and the results were statistically significant (SMAS; r= -0.324, p= <0.001), (Bar-On; r=-0.307, p= <0.001). There was a moderate negative correlation between increasing age and scores from both SMAS and Bar-On scales. There was a significant positive correlation between SMAS and Bar-On scales which means that emotional IQ increased with increasing social media use (p <0.001). A positive relationship was found between SMAS and Bar-On scale in our study. As the use of social media increased, the emotional intelligence score also increased. Emphasis should be placed on the use of social media to develop emotional intelligence. The socialization of nurses allows communication with colleagues and to communicate with people of all ages and socio-cultural backgrounds. It can provide health information to the society. Social media can contribute to the field of academics by providing means of research, discussion and learning. It provides a range of accessible and reliable solutions to problems encountered during professional work. It allows them to support social sensitivity projects. It allows sharing good health practice examples and creating new ideas. Emotional intelligence supports understanding patients and communicating with patients. Individualized efforts for emotional intelligence development and promotion of emotional intelligence development through training will support the nurses to have stronger personality and increase the quality of the service offered.

Authors and Affiliations

Gulden AYNACI, Zuhal GUKSU

Keywords

EP ID EP477151
DOI -
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