A multi-dimensional study on the relationship of emotional intelligence to the multitasking ability of nursing students: A structural equation modeling approach

• Main Authors: Ang, Edward Kennedy S., Carlos, Paolo Miguel A., Umali, Jomari C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/10993
• Institution: De La Salle University

With the gradual shift of nursing practices to a more emotional and open practice, there is now a need to evaluate the connection and interaction between emotional intelligence & nursing work. Emotional Intelligence is the ability to cope up with the external pressures and demands. Nursing work is heavy on cognitive demands because it is unpredictable and fast-paced. The act of multitasking is present in this context and is defined as the ability to achieve/execute multiple goals in the same period with frequent switches among tasks. Past studies failed to consider the interaction of all four components of emotional intelligence with the multitasking ability of a person. This study aims to bridge the gap between Emotional Intelligence and Multitasking ability in the context of nurses and propose that emotional intelligence is a vital topic to be integrated into nursing curriculums and trainings because according to research links between the two ability models are plausible. The sample population consists of 25 junior and senior nursing students. The experiment consists of two parts: the assessment of Emotional Intelligence through Emotional Competence Inventory 2.0 and the assessment of Multitasking ability through playing the simulation game CASNUR. After obtaining the results from the experiment, SmartPLS software was used to conduct the Structural Equation Modeling Analysis which can analyze causal relationships between observed and latent variables. Findings show that there is a significant link between Emotional Intelligence and Multitasking. The interaction of the components of Emotional Intelligence was found to have statistically significant effect on Attentive resource and Perception. Then, the interaction of the components of Emotional Intelligence was found to have an effect on Working Memory but was proven significant. Lastly, the interaction of the components of Emotional intelligence almost showed no effect and significance at all on the Responsiveness.