Nursing Leaders' Emotional Intelligence and Nursing Practice Outcomes: A Cross-Sectional Study in Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69606/jps.v4i03.548Keywords:
emotional intelligence, nursing leadership, job satisfaction, burnout, patient safetyAbstract
Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) is increasingly recognized as a vital nursing leadership competency, significantly impacting staff well-being and patient safety. However, empirical evidence quantifying this dynamic in Mardan District, Pakistan, remains limited. Aims: This study investigated the relationship between nursing leaders' EI and key practice outcomes—specifically job satisfaction, burnout, medication errors, and clinical adherence—across public and private hospitals in Mardan District. Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional correlational design was utilized. The sample comprised 235 participants (39 nursing leaders and 196 staff nurses) across six hospitals. Assessments included the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale (MMSS), Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), and a custom clinical outcomes tool. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including Pearson correlation, ANOVA, and stepwise multiple linear regression, via SPSS Version 26. Results: Nursing leaders demonstrated a high average EI (M = 4.35, SD = 0.85). Leader EI correlated positively with staff job satisfaction (r = .42, p < .01) and clinical adherence (r = .35, p < .01), while correlating negatively with burnout (r = −.38, p < .01) and medication errors (r = −.31, p < .01). Furthermore, units managed by high-EI leaders reported significantly fewer medication errors and superior hand hygiene compliance (p < .001). Empathy (β = .31) and self-regulation (β = .27) emerged as the strongest predictors of clinical adherence (R² = .38). Conclusion: Elevated nursing leader EI is significantly associated with improved staff outcomes and patient safety. Implementing targeted EI training programs for nursing leadership in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, emphasizing empathy and emotional regulation, is strongly recommended.
References
Aisha, Ahmad, R., & Ali, U. (2024). Role of emotional intelligence in life satisfaction among hospital nurses in Pakistan. NURSEARCHER (Journal of Nursing & Midwifery Sciences), 4(01), 47–50. https://doi.org/10.54393/nrs.v4i01.74
Alam, F., Yang, Q., Rūtelionė, A., & Bhutto, M. Y. (2023). Virtual leadership and nurses' psychological stress during COVID-19 in the tertiary hospitals of Pakistan: The role of emotional intelligence. Healthcare, 11(11), 1537. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11111537
Alonazi, W. B. (2020). The impact of emotional intelligence on job performance during COVID-19 crisis: A cross-sectional analysis. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 13, 749–757. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S263656
Al-Oweidat, I., Shosha, G. A., Baker, T. A., & Nashwan, A. J. (2023). The relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational commitment among nurses working in governmental hospitals in Jordan. BMC Nursing, 22(1), 195. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01361-2
Alotaibi, S. M., Amin, M., & Winterton, J. (2020). Does emotional intelligence and empowering leadership affect psychological empowerment and work engagement? Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 41(8), 971–991. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-07-2020-0313
Alsufyani, A. M., Baker, O. G., & Alsufyani, Y. M. (2020). Consequences of emotional intelligence in nursing: A concept analysis. Erbil Journal of Nursing and Midwifery, 3(1), 82–90. https://doi.org/10.15218/ejnm.2020.10
Alwali, J., & Alwali, W. (2022). The relationship between emotional intelligence, transformational leadership, and performance: A test of the mediating role of job satisfaction. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 43(6), 928–952. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-10-2021-0486
Andlib, S., Inayat, S., Azhar, K., & Aziz, F. (2022). Burnout and psychological distress among Pakistani nurses providing care to COVID-19 patients: A cross-sectional study. International nursing review, 69(4), 529–537. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12750
Aseery, M., Mahran, S., Felemban, O., Aseery, M. Y., & Mahran, S. M. (2023). The relationship between emotional intelligence and conflict management strategies from the nurse managers' perspective. Cureus, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.35669
Babar, A., Riaz, A., Maham, A., Ali, A., Siddiqui, M., & Aslam, M. (2025). Correlation of emotional quotient and leadership in healthcare leaders: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Society of Prevention, Advocacy and Research King Edward Medical University, 4(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.21649/jspark.v4i1.523
Badshah, A., Yousaf, A., Mehboob, U., & Khan, M. B. (2025). Correlation of burnout syndrome with emotional intelligence among clinicians at workplace. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 41(1), 83. https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.41.1.9725
Bibi, S., Khurshid, S., Jamil, A., Gul, A., & Parveen, K. (2025). Emotional intelligence and academic success among undergraduate nursing students in Pakistan: A cross-sectional study. NURSEARCHER (Journal of Nursing & Midwifery Sciences), 5(3), 09–14. https://doi.org/10.54393/nrs.v5i3.172
Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1(3), 185–216
Dean, A. G., Sullivan, K. M., & Soe, M. M. (2013). OpenEpi: Open source epidemiologic statistics for public health (Version 3.0). http://www.openepi.com
Chauhan, R., Kaul, V., & Maheshwari, N. (2022). Impact of emotional intelligence on job performance of nurses with mediating effect of job satisfaction. Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, 17(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.24083/apjhm.v17i2.1257
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publication
Kitsios, F., Papageorgiou, E., Kamariotou, M., Perifanis, N. A., & Talias, M. A. (2022). Emotional intelligence with the gender perspective in health organizations managers. Heliyon, 8(11). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11488
Lambert, S. (2021). Role of emotional intelligence in effective nurse leadership. Nursing Standard, 36(12), 45–49. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2021.e11782
Liu, N., Wang, L., & Yin, J. (2023). Impact of transformational leadership on the person–organization fit of Chinese nurses: The moderating effect of emotional intelligence. Nursing Open, 10(7), 4586–4596. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1706
Majeed, N., & Jamshed, S. (2020). Nursing turnover intentions: The role of leader emotional intelligence and team culture. Journal of Nursing Management, 00, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13144
Maslach, C., Jackson, S. E., & Leiter, M. P. (1996). Maslach Burnout Inventory manual (3rd ed.). Consulting Psychologists Press.
Mueller, C. W., & McCloskey, J. C. (1990). Nurses' job satisfaction: A proposed measure. Nursing Research, 39(2), 113–117.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric Theory (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Oweidat, I., Alzoubi, M., Shosha, G. A., Ta'an, W., Khalifeh, A., Alzoubi, M. M., Al-Mugheed, K., Alabdullah, A. A. S., & Abdelaliem, S. M. F. (2024). Relationship between emotional intelligence and quality of healthcare among nurses. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1423235. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1423235
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2021). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Saha, S., Das, R., Lim, W. M., Kumar, S., Malik, A., & Chillakuri, B. (2023). Emotional intelligence and leadership: Insights for leading by feeling in the future of work. International Journal of Manpower, 44(4), 671–701. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-12-2021-0690
Saikia, M., George, L. S., Unnikrishnan, B., Nayak, B. S., & Ravishankar, N. (2024). Thirty years of emotional intelligence: A scoping review of emotional intelligence training programme among nurses. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 33(1), 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13235
Soriano-Vázquez, I., Cajachagua Castro, M., & Morales-García, W. C. (2023). Emotional intelligence as a predictor of job satisfaction: The mediating role of conflict management in nurses. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1249020. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1249020
Suleman, Q., Syed, M. A., Mahmood, Z., & Hussain, I. (2020). Correlating emotional intelligence with job satisfaction: Evidence from a cross-sectional study among secondary school heads in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 240. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00240
Turjuman, F., & Alilyyani, B. (2023). Emotional intelligence among nurses and its relationship with their performance and work engagement: A cross‐sectional study. Journal of Nursing Management, 2023(1), 5543299. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/5543299
Ullah, S., Rafique, S., Sultan, A., Ahmed, F., & Khan, A. (2022). Emotional intelligence and burn out among nurses working in tertiary hospitals of KPK: Emotional intelligence and burn out. Pakistan Journal of Health Sciences, 3(2), 11–16. https://doi.org/10.54393/pjhs.v3i02.68
Wong, C. S., & Law, K. S. (2002). The effects of leader and follower emotional intelligence on performance and attitude: An exploratory study. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(3), 243–274
Zahir, S., Khan, K., Khan, M., Zahid, M., Arshad, K., Shahbaz, M., Khattak, A. A., Mazhar, S., Khan, A. S., & Malalai, Z. (2024). Evaluating emotional intelligence among undergraduate medical students: A cross sectional study from Peshawar, Pakistan. Pakistan BioMedical Journal, 7(6). https://doi.org/10.54393/pbmj.v7i6.1114
Zaman, N., Memon, K. N., Zaman, F., Khan, K. Z., & Shaikh, S. R. (2021). Role of emotional intelligence in job performance of healthcare providers working in public sector hospitals of Pakistan. Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences, 8(2), 31. https://doi.org/10.22543/7674.82.P245251
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Abdur Rahim
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
