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Abstract The nature of the job makes nursing as one of the most challenging professions in the world. A nurse who excels in the profession should be a well-rounded person with many good qualities. They are usually compassionate, caring, emotionally as well as socially intelligent, good at problem solving, be able to perform multi-tasks and like their job (Salazar, 2022).Nurses deliver an autonomous and compassionate care to clients physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. The purpose of nursing care includes the care of sick persons, prevention of illness and promotion of health. Moreover, nurses are trained to provide care to individuals of all age groups. Nursing is a fundamental element of patients’ care whose responsibility is to remain compassionate while caring for patients and it ultimately enhances the emotional intelligence. On the other hand, lack of compassion among nurses become a source of barrier for communication between patients and nurses. Nurses are often experiencing a wide range of emotions during their work. This can challenge their personal as well as professional roles and can have an effect on their emotional and physical well-being (Joseph & Elias, 2018).Self-compassion is a useful strategy for emotional regulation, where pain or a sad feeling that cannot be avoided can be held consciously with self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. Self-compassion can be an important aspect of emotional intelligence, where there is the ability to monitor ones own emotions and be able to use this ability as a guide in thinking and behaving in oneself. Individuals who have high self-compassion should have better mental health than individuals who have low self- compassion. Self-supportive attitudes can be associated with some beneficial psychological aspects such as reduced depression, anxiety, and better life and work satisfaction (Dragan, 2020).Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between self-compassion and emotional intelligence among nurses at Shebin El-Kom hospitals.To achieve the purpose of this study, the following research questions are proposed:What is the nurses’ self-compassion level at the selected hospitals? What is the nurses’emotional intelligence level at the selected hospitals? What is the relation between self- compassion and emotional intelligence among nurses at the selected hospitals? Hence, a descriptive correlational research design was used to explore the relationship between self-compassion and emotional intelligence among nurses at the selected hospital. A simple random sample of 320 nurses are recruited from Menoufia university hospital, Shebin El-Kom teaching hospital and El Helal health insurance hospital. Nurses who have at least one year of experience working in the hospital and accept to participate in the study were invited to be part of the study. Data were collected using two instruments: First instrument is the Self- Compassion Scale (SCS) is a 26-items designed to assess self-compassion from nurses’perspective. It includes six dimensions; positive dimensions: self-kindness (5 items), common humanity (4 items), and mindfulness (4 items). The negative dimension have a reverse score: self-judgment (5 items), isolation (4 items), and over identified subscale(4 items). Each item was rated on a five-point Likert scale where 1 (Almost Never) to 5(Almost Always). The total scale of self-compassion ranges between (26-130), low level of self-compassion ranges from (26-60), moderate self-compassion level ranges from (61-95), and high self-compassion level ranges from (96-130). Second instrument is the Emotional Intelligence Assessment scale. This scale consists of 27 items. The questionnaire focused on five dimensions of emotional intelligence: self-awareness (5 items), self-regulation (6 items), motivation (5 items), empathy (4 items) and social skills (7 items). Each item was rated on a five- point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, to 5 = strongly agree). Data collection lasted for four months from the beginning of January to the end of April 2020. The pilot study was conducted before starting the actual collection of the data. It was used to ascertain clarity, relevance, feasibility and applicability of the study instruments and to determine obstacles that may be encountered during data collection. It also helped to estimate the time needed to fill the questionnaire. The pilot study was carried on 32 nurses which presented (10%) of sample size and included in the main sample size since there is no required modifications done. The result of the present study revealed that: self-compassion is a predictor of emotional intelligence among critical care nurses in the selected hospitals as confirmed by linear regression test.The majority of study’s sample have moderate level of self-compassion, with high significant statistical difference for all self-compassion dimensions at (p≤ 0.001) with a higher total mean score for negative than positive dimensions of self-compassion. The highest percentage of study’s sample have moderate level of emotional intelligence. Furthermore, there are positive correlation among positive dimensions of self- compassion and total mean score of emotional intelligence and a negative correlation among negative self-compassion dimensions and total mean score of emotional intelligence. Additionally, there are high statistically significant differences among nurses‘ age, experience, education, and total score of self-compassion and emotional intelligence at (p≤0. 001) level. The study recommended that: Staff development departments at the selected hospitals need to enhance self-compassion among critical care nurses in order to improve emotional intelligence and develop positive coping strategies for workplace stressors. Self-compassion assessment may be considered as a part of nurses’ recruitment and selection too. Nursing education institutions need to integrate self-compassion and emotional intelligence into their undergraduate nursing curriculum in order to improve positive coping strategies to work environment after graduation. A refreshment program about self-compassion and emotional intelligence need to be integrated in the orientation program for intern nursing students too. For further research studies; quasi-experimental research design is required to improve nurse managers and nurses’ self-compassion and emotional intelligence. |