Emotional Intelligence Reflection y1f5e

Running head: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE REFLECTION

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Emotional Intelligence Reflection Genevieve Givens University of Arizona

Emotional Intelligence Reflection Introduction Emotional intelligence is the ability to clearly perceive an organization, situation, and interaction in relation to emotions, emotional intelligent leaders are able to effectively regulate and promote understanding and knowledge (Heckemann, Schols, & Halfens, 2015). Emotionally intelligent leaders are inspiring, mature, and confident within their practice which aids in allowing others to participate in the decision making process (Heckemann et al., 2015). Emotional intelligent leaders possess qualities that provide insight into the human condition and between human interactions these qualities include: “self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill” all tools necessary for the integrated leader (Crowell, 2011, pg.102). Evidence of Self-Awareness Self-awareness can be defined as understanding the effects of one’s emotions, ambitions, and action on others (Crowell, 2011). Self-awareness was evident through group four’s specific shared leadership interventions. In this scenario, the chosen interventions highlight principles of shared leadership focused on promoting culture change and respect throughout the unit, allowing staff to take ownership of their practice, feel appreciated and worthy, all of which motivated and empowered staff to find solutions (Winslow, Hougan, DeGuzman, & Black, 2015). Group four recognized nurses were feeling unappreciated and disrespected by the results of the nursing staff survey. First, to combat nurse turnover, group four and under shared leadership values implemented a collaborative process council. Second, the collaborative process was utilized to

improve the environment and promote communication, trust, and respect in the workplace, thereby fostering feelings of self-worth in the workforce (Heckemann et asl., 2015). Group four recognized the importance of self-worth in leadership and the workforce, which improves morale and performance (Crowell, 2011). Thirdly, group four also chose to create an interdisciplinary council to develop and implement clear practice guidelines and protocols that allow nurses to work autonomously, improving efficacy and outcomes while allowing the nurse to work within the scope of license (Kowalski, 2015). Evidence of Self-Regulation Self-regulation in leadership is the ability to control emotions of the leader while promoting calm within followers (Crowell, 2011). Group four recognizes the impact of the work environment on patient and staff satisfaction, patient care outcomes, and organizational sustainability, creating initiatives that improve the workplace influences every facet of front line health care delivery (Buck & Doucette, 2015). The creation of interdisciplinary councils delineates group four’s understanding of shared leadership concepts and integrates selfregulation into practice. In these councils, staff may create open dialogue without escalating non-productive and negative emotions, assisting with practice and policy development that improves both patient care outcomes and staff satisfaction. Creating interdisciplinary councils in which staff can voice their opinions and concerns into improvement initiatives and practice change demonstrates self-regulation (Crowell, 2011). Underlying Group Motivation The underlying motivation demonstrated by group four was nurse and staff retention by creating a positive work environment to improve morale and culture of the unit, thereby creating a healing environment not only for personnel but for patients. Utilizing shared leadership design and motivated by nursing retention, improving morale it is expected that these interventions will lead to “increased work performance, productivity, staff satisfaction, and retention” (Crase, Buchanan Green, Apodaca, & Givens, 2016, para. 2). Evidence of Demonstrated Empathy Group four also demonstrates empathy in their initiatives and understanding the feelings of others into the decision making process to prevent staff turnover and build unit leadership. Group four identified the qualitative data obtained from the nurse survey and highlighting areas of concern that potentially attributed to high nurse turnover. This discernment articulates the team’s capability to understand their staff member’s current state. Entrusting personnel to share in the decision making process validates the feelings of staff and promotes the essential components of shared leadership as ability, partnership, equality, and ownership (Thomas, 2014). This deliberate effort of taking the perspective of the nursing staff into demonstrates empathy in all three of group four’s interventions (Savel & Munro, 2016). Evidence of Social Skill Emotionally intelligent leaders have great relational skills that assist with recognizing their emotions, the effect of those emotions on others and the insight to understand and regulate the emotions of others into productive work (Savel & Munro, 2016). There is evidence of social skill in group four’s scenario response that is in line with the design of shared leadership. Group four made a conscious effort to build working relationships with personnel, these relationships were developed three ways: between staff and leadership, between departmental staff, and between nursing and the medical team (Savel & Munro, 2016). Group four also implemented clear expectations and guidelines for practice on the unit, improving the communication process between clinicians and leadership improving interdepartmental and organization relations. Group

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE REFLECTION four’s action plan to intervene on issues plaguing the profession demonstrate a high level of emotionally intelligent leadership.

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References Buck, S., & Doucette, J. N. (2015). Transformational leadership practices of CNO’s. Nursing Management, 46(9), 42-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000469313.85935.f1 Crase, T., Buchanan Green, P., Apodaca, C., & Givens, G. (2016). Shared leadership group discussion. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Nursing, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. Retrieved from https://d2l.arizona.edu/d2l/le/463181/discussions/threads/3398889/View Crowell, D. M. (2011). Contemporary leadership models that reflect complexity. In Complexity Leadership: Nursing’s role in health care delivery (1st ed., pp. 93-109). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis. Heckemann, B., Schols, B. M., & Halfens, R. J. (2015). A reflective framework to foster emotionally intelligent leadership in nursing. Journal of Nursing Management, 23, 744753. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12204 Kowalski, K. (2015). Building teams through communication and partnerships. In P. S. YoderWise, Leading and managing in nursing (6th ed., pp. 321-345). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. Savel, R. H., & Munro, C. L. (2016). Emotional intelligence: For the leader in us all [Editorial]. American Journal of Critical Care, 25(2), 104-106. http://dx.doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2016969 Thomas, P. L. (2014). Evaluating organizational frameworks for systems change. In H. R. Hall, & L. A. Roussel, Evidence based practice: An integrative approach to research, istration, and practice (pp. 149-170). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE REFLECTION Winslow, S., Hougan, A., DeGuzman, P., & Black, A. (2015). The voice of the nurse, what’s being done about shared governance? Nursing Management, 46(4), 46-51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000462366.91153.e2

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