There are many elements that make up an effective leader. Things like knowledge and experience in a profession aid in establishing a foundation to be a leader but other skills like being emotionally intelligent (EI) are necessary in order to empower and stimulate proactivity within a team. Being emotionally intelligent is an essential skill that addresses four different components: self awareness, self management, social awareness, and social management (Goran, 2021). An individual with high emotional intelligence is able to perceive, reason, understand, and manage their own emotions as well as those surrounding them (Goran, 2021). In this reflection, I will share my own emotional intelligence strengths, strategies to improve my own skills, and how being emotionally intelligent will help me become an effective leader and positively impact my career as a nurse. 

After completing an EI quiz online, the results showed I scored high on the self-awareness category. In my experience as an EMT, I have learned to manage my emotions under stress. It was not always easy and it definitely took several daunting 9-1-1 calls to get better at regulating my emotions. Being self-aware during calls and managing my own feelings helped me stay focused, safe, and on my “A” game in order to provide the best care for my patients. After tough calls it was always important for my partner and I to pause, reflect, and debrief on the unfolding call. We tried to give eachother constructive feedback so that we could better serve the city of San Diego. Inquiring peer feedback and utilizing the constructive criticism given to me were critical in helping me not be impulsive and gave me insight on how I can respond better in different situations.

The work is never-ending, I continue to work on my self-awareness skills and continue to ask others on ways I can improve. One specific goal of mine is to refine my active listening skills. English is my second language and I feel that although it has been very beneficial in many aspects of my life, there are things that I struggle with like writing and listening. Sometimes when someone is talking to me I am busy in my head translating all of the Spanglish trying to formulate how I am going to respond. By not active listening I am distracted from paying attention to nonverbal cues and details from the conversation that I am having with the other individual. Even though this does not happen all of the time, this can still lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication. 

Verbal communication is important but I also strive to improve my interpretation of nonverbal communication and body language. I took a different EI quiz where I had to guess the person’s emotion by their facial expression and I struggled with that. Being able to determine others feelings by the way they are presenting will allow me to approach a situation and create a safe environment, build therapeutic relationships, as well as providing atraumatic care. 

As a nurse, being emotionally intelligent will help me communicate effectively with other healthcare professionals. When I decide to take the leap and take on a leadership role, being emotionally intelligent will hopefully help me cultivate and inspire a culture that motivates individuals to work together, increase passion for our mutual goals and success in increasing positive patient outcomes. Not only will improving this skill set aid in my collaboration with other healthcare professionals it can also enhance my ability to read and take care of my patients. 

Being emotionally intelligent helps me become multi-faceted in my skills “toolbox” and how I take care of the clients I will encounter. Recently, I have been interested in working in pediatrics. So far I have learned that based on their age and developmental growth their ability to express themselves may be limited. Utilizing emotional intelligence may help me better serve for example a toddler who is still learning how to talk and may not be able to tell me they are experiencing pain using language. My ability to read their facial expressions or body language may give me insight when they are not able to tell me. Having emotional intelligence may also help me in managing my own emotions and remaining level-headed if I ever encounter a situation in which my pediatric patient is being abused. Being able to set my feelings aside will allow me to advocate and protect my patient. 

Ultimately in my nursing career, I strive to continue to be passionate about the profession, and I want to be happy and satisfied with my job. Literature states that those with increased emotional intelligence have higher incidences of job satisfaction and leadership skills (Prezerakos, 2018). As I progress through my nursing education, I see the importance of building interpersonal relationships, encouraging teamwork and problem-solving, and now self-awareness. 

References 

Goran, S. (2021). Emotional Intelligence. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://brightspace.une.edu/d2l/le/content/12535/viewContent/385396/View

Prezerakos, P. E. (2018). Nurse managers’ emotional intelligence and effective leadership: A review of the current evidence. The Open Nursing Journal, 12(1), 86–92. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874434601812010086 

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