The Effect of Emotional and Spiritual Intelligence on Nurses’ Burnout and Caring Behavior

Abstract

This study seeks to highlight the key value in propose and empirically test a theoretical model positing relationship between emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence, job burnout, and caring behavior among nurses. The aim of the present study was to analyze the direct and indirect relationships between emotional, spiritual intelligence and caring behavior using structural equation modeling, also including job burnout in the model as a mediator of these relationships. A cross-sectional study was designed and conducted in this research, and a questionnaire survey was completed by a purposive sample among 172 nurses from two Islamic Hospitals in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. The results exhibited a negative effect of spiritual intelligence on job burnout; the positive effect of emotional and spiritual intelligence on caring behavior, and the negative effect of job burnout on caring behavior. It was indicated that the best predictors for job burnout were spiritual intelligence, for caring behavior were job burnout. Interestingly, emotional intelligence would not be as important as spiritual intelligence in predicting job burnout and caring behavior. This finding may be seen as prospects and advantages to both nurses and patients is a motivating factor for future researchers.