Emotional intelligence and personality characteristics of psychiatric nurses and their situations of exposure to violence.

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between the emotional intelligence and sociotropic-autonomic personality characteristics of nurses working in psychiatry clinics and their exposure to violence.

DESIGN AND

METHODS

In this study, 103 nurses working in a mental health community hospital in Turkey were surveyed. The research data were collected using the Emotional Intelligence Evaluation Scale, the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale, and the Personal Information Form.

FINDINGS: A statistically significant relationship was determined between the "awareness of emotions" and the frequency of physical violence that was exposed; "management of emotions" and the number of psychological violence that was exposed; sociotropic personality characteristics; and the number of violent incidents.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: It may be advisable to include issues such as awareness and management of emotions, the importance of autonomous personality traits in violence prevention education programs.