RESUMEN
AIMS: To explore factors associated with, and predictors of, posttraumatic stress symptoms in midwives. To explore factors associated with, and potential moderating effects of, trait emotional intelligence. Secondary analysis explored predictors of resilience. BACKGROUND: Midwives may experience vicarious trauma responses due to exposure to certain perinatal events in their professional lives. This may have adverse psychological outcomes for midwives, and women and children in their care. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, online and paper survey of midwives in the United Kingdom was conducted. METHODS: Between February and October 2016, 113 midwives who met inclusion criteria provided demographic information, and completed scales measuring posttraumatic stress symptoms, trait emotional intelligence, empathy, resilience, social support, and attitudes towards emotional expression. RESULTS: Higher resilience and trait emotional intelligence scores were associated with reduced posttraumatic stress symptoms. Higher empathy, perceived social support, and resilience were associated with higher trait emotional intelligence. Lower resilience significantly predicted posttraumatic stress symptoms. Trait emotional intelligence did not moderate relationships between resilience and posttraumatic stress symptoms, but may protect against posttraumatic stress symptoms in midwives with higher empathy. Higher trait emotional intelligence, and lower empathy and need for support, significantly predicted resilience. Notably, when trait emotional intelligence was higher, the negative relationship between empathy and resilience was reduced. CONCLUSION: Approximately one-fifth of midwives were experiencing posttraumatic stress symptoms at clinically significant levels. Trait emotional intelligence may protect against posttraumatic stress symptoms by supporting resilience, while enabling midwives to remain empathic. The negative correlation between resilience and empathy needs careful consideration by policy makers.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Over recent years there has been criticism within the United Kingdom's health service regarding a lack of care and compassion, resulting in adverse outcomes for patients. The impact of emotional intelligence in staff on patient health care outcomes has been recently highlighted. Many recruiters now assess emotional intelligence as part of their selection process for health care staff. However, it has been argued that the importance of emotional intelligence in health care has been overestimated. OBJECTIVES: To explore relationships between emotional intelligence in health care professionals, and caring behaviour. To further explore any additional factors related to emotional intelligence that may impact upon caring behaviour. DESIGN: An integrative review design was used. DATA SOURCES: Psychinfo, Medline, CINAHL Plus, Social Sciences Citation Index, Science Citation Index, and Scopus were searched for studies from 1995 to April 2017. REVIEW METHODS: Studies providing quantitative or qualitative exploration of how any healthcare professionals' emotional intelligence is linked to caring in healthcare settings were selected. RESULTS: Twenty two studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Three main types of health care professional were identified: nurses, nurse leaders, and physicians. Results indicated that the emotional intelligence of nurses was related to both physical and emotional caring, but emotional intelligence may be less relevant for nurse leaders and physicians. Age, experience, burnout, and job satisfaction may also be relevant factors for both caring and emotional intelligence. CONCLUSIONS: This review provides evidence that developing emotional intelligence in nurses may positively impact upon certain caring behaviours, and that there may be differences within groups that warrant further investigation. Understanding more about which aspects of emotional intelligence are most relevant for intervention is important, and directions for further large scale research have been identified.