A Cross Sectional Exploration of Emotional Intelligence in US Baccalaureate Nursing Students

Objective: New nurses may be vulnerable to bullying as they often lack confidence or do not have the skills or maturity to communicate their needs or those of their patients. Increasing emotional intelligence particularly in at-risk nursing students may be one way to foster resiliency. This exploratory cross sectional study aimed to exam the overall level and specific components of emotional intelligence as well as associations with age, ethnicity, gender, or academic standing in baccalaureate nursing students. Methods: A cross sectional analytical study was conducted using a paper demographic survey and an online emotional intelligence (EI) instrument, the MSCEIT V2.0. A convenience sample of lower division nursing students attending a professional nursing course was recruited. Statistical analyses include demographic descriptives, EI total and sub score means and standard deviations, paired t-tests to compare within group differences, and simple and linear regression on seven different EI scores to examine predictive qualities of demographic variables. Results: Overall total and many component EI scores were high average with variations noted within groups. Multiple linear regressions demonstrated that after controlling for all variables, a higher GPA and being Asian compared to White were associated with higher scores in mostly all components of EI. Four-year students scored higher than transfer students in understanding emotions. Being male was predictive of the branch, facilitating thought, and Latinos were associated with a higher score in perceiving emotions. Conclusions: This study provides an in-depth exploration of not only total EI in a lower division nursing student sample, but a comprehensive examination of the components of emotional intelligence. EI measurements can be used to identify strengths and weaknesses in abilities that can be either gleaned, or developed as needed to faciliate creative problem solving, effective patient interactions, and to develop resiliency to incivility in the workplace

Increasing Empathy and Conflict Resolution Skills through Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Training in Latino Adults and Youth

Background: Children of Latino immigrants often are torn between their native homes and new communities. Having supportive interpersonal relationships increases resilience to delinquent and violent behaviors stemming from immigration challenges. Communication fostering empathy may improve conflict resolution and supportive relationships. Objectives: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) was conducted to evaluate the impact of nonviolent communication (NVC) trainings in Latino adults and youth. Methods: Four sessions in NVC were provided by bilingual Latino trainers for Latino adults and youth. Pre- and post-training focus groups evaluated effectiveness of training. Results: Three themes emerged from adult post training focus groups—enter the others’ shoes, making a change, and learning in community. The youth reflected on new ways to manage conflict and understand emotions. Lessons Learned: Research team embedded in community increased success. However, inconsistent participant attendance precluded quantitative analyses. Conclusion: Seeds were planted in this Latino community for future potential projects

Nonviolent Communication Training Increases Empathy in Baccalaureate Nursing Students: A Mixed Method Study

Background: Ineffective communication among healthcare team members is associated with decreased collaborative efforts and adverse patient outcomes. The impact of empathy on collaboration with colleagues and patient interaction has been previously demonstrated. Studies have yet to measure the impact of (Nonviolent Communication [NVC]) on empathy in nursing students. Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods study was to test a communication intervention (NVC) with baccalaureate student nurses to examine its effect on empathy. Methods: A mixed methods single group pre/post test design incorporating the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) to measure empathy was used. A paired samples t test was calculated to compare means scores pre and post intervention. One-way ANOVA was used to examine between group differences. Interpretive methods were used to analyze qualitative data collected via journal entries during the training and focus groups immediately following and 2 years post intervention. Results/Findings: Quantitative results revealed an increase in empathy (69.1 to 71.4, p = .037) post training. Qualitative analyses demonstrated positive impact of NVC in empathizing with self and others. Clinical impact was especially noted when working with psychiatric patients. Conclusion: Incorporating NVC into nursing education could feasibly prevent future hardship as students advance their nursing careers. Further research may be needed to capture the larger impact that NVC could have on nurses and nursing students

Perinatal Anxiety and Depression during the COVID 19 Pandemic

Abstract The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak places perinatal women at higher risk of developing anxiety and depression. Uncertainty, fear, and confusion in medical, social, economic, occupational and political aspects of life in the US add to existing stressors that perinatal women experience. To optimize the quality of perinatal care during the pandemic, appropriate mental health interventions must be implemented to prevent and alleviate perinatal anxiety and depression and improve maternal and infant outcomes. Measures include increased screening, non-pharmacologic and/or pharmacologic interventions and the use of telehealth for care delivery. Keywords: perinatal anxiety, perinatal depression, COVID-19, SARS CoV-2, maternal mental healt

Distress during the Menopause Transition: A Rich Contextual Analysis of Midlife Women\u27s Narratives

In 2010, nearly 400 million women worldwide were of menopause age (45-54). Although many women transition through menopause with ease, some experience distress and a subsequent decrease in quality of life. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of distress in women during the menopause transition. A narrative analysis methodology was used maintaining participants’ complete narratives when possible. In-person interviews of 15 midlife women were digitally audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Women shared narratives of distress related to menstrual changes, emotional instability, vaginal dryness, and decreased libido affected by their relationships with self, partners, work, and family. Some experiences were presented against a backdrop of the past and influenced by concerns for the future. Detailed stories illuminated the effect that distressful symptoms had on quality of life and captured how intricately woven symptoms were with the women’s interpersonal and social lives

Transformative Wonder: An Ex-Con Talking about Heidegger to a Class of Graduate Students

This article is part of an on-going project where we bring formerly incarcerated adults into the classroom to share their experiences of incarceration and illness with graduate nursing and public health students. We present the experience of one formerly incarcerated adult, Earthy, as we consider his transformative process from participant to teacher of Heideggerian concepts of a person. Via a restructuring into poetic lines and stanzas, we creatively present Earthy’s narrative from post class focus groups conducted over sequential semesters. The co-creation of this innovative and evolving class afforded Earthy the safe space to push into the unknown resulting in an ontological journey of practical wisdom and a deeper self understanding that drew him back to a sense of what felt right—the wonder of shared dialogical interaction with others. We view this as a creativity of personhood born from a dialectical and dialogical practice within a ‘community of wonder.

Examining Assumptions about Student Engagement in the Classroom: A Faculty Learning Community’s Yearlong Journey

Over the past twenty years, the term “student engagement” has become a primary means for orienting faculty and administrators around pedagogic improvements and curriculum development. The increasing prevalence of technology in educational settings and the ways it alters more traditional classroom formats, student-teacher interactions, and research methods suggest that engagement may now look and function differently than in the past. This article describes the reflective journey of a yearlong Faculty Learning Community (FLC) at a private, urban Jesuit university on the topic of student engagement. It investigates and debates current thinking on the topic, assesses methods of measurement, and shares project results. Attending to the relationships between teacher, learner, and content may improve the scholarship, practice, and effects of teaching within the powerful and competing demands of the real world

The composite first person narrative: Texture, structure, and meaning in writing phenomenological descriptions

This paper illustrates the use of composite first person narrative interpretive methods, as described by Todres, across a range of phenomena. This methodology introduces texture into the presently understood structures of phenomena and thereby creates new understandings of the phenomenon, bringing about a form of understanding that is relationally alive that contributes to improved caring practices. The method is influenced by the work of Gendlin, Heidegger, van Manen, Gadamer, and Merleau-Ponty. The method's applicability to different research topics is demonstrated through the composite narratives of nursing students learning nursing practice in an accelerated and condensed program, obese female adolescents attempting weight control, chronically ill male parolees, and midlife women experiencing distress during menopause. Within current research, these four phenomena have been predominantly described and understood through quantified articulations that give the reader a structural understanding of the phenomena, but the more embodied or “contextual” human qualities of the phenomena are often not visible. The “what is it like” or the “unsaid” aspects of such human phenomena are not clear to the reader when proxies are used to “account for” a variety of situated conditions. This novel method is employed to re-present narrative data and findings from research through first person accounts that blend the voices of the participants with those of the researcher, emphasizing the connectedness, the “we” among all participants, researchers, and listeners. These re-presentations allow readers to develop more embodied understandings of both the texture and structure of each of the phenomena and illustrate the use of the composite account as a way for researchers to better understand and convey the wholeness of the experience of any phenomenon under inquiry

A Postmodern Discourse on Distress during the Menopause Transition

Some women experience symptoms during the menopause transition that cause distress. Due to the heterogeneity of experiences, distress has been difficult to measure. Researchers have examined risk factors such as personality traits, stress, coping, lifecourse, and hormonal sensitivities to explain distress during menopause. The purpose of this narrative analysis study was to explore the experiences of distress for women during the menopause transition, and to examine the experiences of aging.A postmodern feminist framework allowed for individual experiences of distress to unfold within the stories and to view how women adopt positions in prevailing discourses. Narrative analysis methodology facilitated the understanding of individually defined distress and how it reflected shared meanings embedded in Western society. Fifteen women were interviewed in person using open interview techniques and were digitally voice recorded. Interviews were transcribed verbatim to examine use of language such as utterances, tone of voice, and pauses. Data were re-transcribed after the identification of narratives and poetic structures. Themes were analyzed within and across interviews. Coding was conducted to aid in the noting of themes. The women described hot flashes, night sweats, menstrual changes, decreased libido, vaginal dryness, sleep disruption, and others within the context of their lives. The women demonstrated ways of adopting social discourses on menopause and aging that aided or dampened positions of power. Themes identified were of silence, shame, and stigma related to aging and menopause. Some women experienced social withdrawal and alienation. Narratives of chaos, restitution, and quest were analyzed. Loss of control was experienced to be most distressful for some of the women. It is a historical time with many babyboomers reaching the age of menopause and studies cautioning against the liberal use of hormone therapy. Nurses need to understand the contextual meaning embedded in the women's experiences. Alternative models to provide care and reduce alienation, such as group care, is worthy of research. Women need to be advised in how the adoption of social discourse may influence experiences of distress. Further exploration of the meaning of control in women's lives needs to be conducted