Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence happens to be a crucial aspect in every leadership position, and the healthcare sector is no different. The clinical set up requires healthcare providers to show compassion to all patients, and make them feel comfortable at all times from the moment they enter a health facility to the time they leave. Goleman (2006), feels that emotional intelligence plays a crucial part since a competitive health provider should make a patient feel that all is not lost even when their health condition have greatly deteriorated. He is also of the perception that emotional intelligence in a clinical setup dictates the ability of the leader to perceive the emotion of their subjects, which helps to promote intellectual growth of the subject. According to Goleman (2006), all leaders in the healthcare sector should poses undisputable levels of emotional intelligence since it determines the overall success in the roles they partake on a daily basis.
In the provided case, the patient is emotionally depressed due to the fact that no one is visiting her. One can only conclude that the nurse attending to the patient is emotionally intelligent since she makes time out of her busy schedule to spend with her patient. The nurse does her best to console and give her client hope of recovering despite her deteriorating condition.
There was once a case where an old woman was brought in for treatment with a third degree burn wound that had remained untreated for a week. The attending nurse was not too kind, and a little bit too harsh to the patient when enquiring why she had delayed to seek medical attention. The old woman looked confused and did not respond to the nurse. Such, a scenario can make any competitive leader question the emotional intelligence of the nurse in question. This is more so because she failed to show compassion, or even understand the fact that nobody enjoys pain or bad health, more so an elderly woman who has no one to care for her. Maybe the poor woman at her old age was either confused or lacked the means to get to the hospital. This case made me feel the need to step-in and help, and so I did. It also made me realize that I am highly sensitive to emotional intelligence and the associated practices. According to Goleman (2016), the way a healthcare expert handles a patient directly affects his/her healing process. In the latter scenario, I feel the way the attending nurse handled the elderly woman with the burns may have triggered some emotional distress and that could be why she never responded. Maybe the questions triggered some emotional distress to the woman, delaying the healing process of the wound. Maybe she made her feel alone, or like had no one to take care of her during her time of need.
In conclusion, emotional intelligence is a significantly important aspect in delivery of healthcare. It not only has the power to facilitate quick patients’ quick recovery, but it also makes them feel loved and wanted by everyone within a healthcare facility.
References
Goleman, D. (2006). Social intelligence: The revolutionary new science of human relationships.
New York, NY: Bantam Dell.
