An Association Between Demographic Factors And Emotional Intelligence and Occupational Stress Among Nurses in Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Emotional Intelligence is a significant factor for occupational success as it supports employees in decision making, team work, communication, relationships and exhibits transformation in evaluating emotions and thoughts. Every profession is having its own importance, demands, challenges and consequences. Likewise nursing is a profession where most time has to be spent with patients in the hospital. As it is a patient centered profession, nurses require certain skills that bolster the professional abilities to lead effectively. The researcher desires to study the affinity of demographic factors and EI in managing occupational stress in healthcare sector among nurses. Survey method was conducted among nurses comparing selected public and private teaching hospitals of Guntur and Vijayawada Cities of Andhra Pradesh. The sample size of the study is 639 respondents. The statistical tools used were Independent Sample T-Test, One-way ANOVA and Multiple Regression Analysis Forward Stepwise. There is a statistically significant difference among the means of Family Members in the Nursing Profession, Marital Status, Type of Family, Age, Qualification, Experience and Income of public hospitals with EI and OS, where p<0.05 and there is no statistically significant difference among the means of private hospitals, where p>0.05. There is no statistically significant difference among the means of work shifts and EI and OS in both the hospitals. As one unit in age increases, the EI increase with 7.044 and OS decreases with -5.862 respectively. As one unit increase in experience and income, the EI and OS also increase with 3.109 and 3.364 respectively (statistically significant linear relationship, where p<0.05). It is suggested that the management should recruit candidates after conducting the EI test or give rigorous training for improvement of EI levels for the lower age respondents. The management should focus on reward monetary and nonmonetary benefits and peer to peer relations. The night shifts should split into two groups to minimize the stress. The demographic factors have moderating effect on EI and OS in public hospitals. There is an inverse relationship between age, EI and OS. EI training to nurses can decrease the OS and helps them to buffer, resile and agile for survival of the fittest.