W3 Emotional Intelligence Self Evaluation

Post#1 by Rachel Hayes - Emotional Intelligence Self Evaluation

Initial post- After taking the emotional intelligence test I scored as “Average emotional intelligence” indicating that I tend to be pretty good at interpreting, understanding and acting upon emotions. I feel as though I am self-aware and able to recognize emotions, and feelings. Empathy is part of my everyday work life as a hospice nurse being able to understand the many different emotions of patients/family members and loved ones throughout the grieving process. However, I feel I can improve in two categories: Motivation and the ability to discuss feelings with others. When speaking about improving motivation I specifically mean the ability to allow change. I struggle with fearing change. I begin to feel anxious and at times avoid it at times. Another area of improvement is the ability to discuss feelings. Now I can discuss, understand, educate and share while normalizing feelings and emotions

With patients and loved ones while in the field. What I struggle with is discussing my feelings toward coworkers or management. I realized this when responding to the question “your co-worker has an annoying habit that seems to get worse every day. You…” in the emotional intelligence test. My immediate response was “suffer in silence”. I also responded to the question about two friends fighting with "listen to both vent." I find I struggle with conflict and getting involved in something that has nothing to do with me. I can work on improving this by taking a more authoritive approach or working on confidence. As Northouse states “confidence also comes from practice. This is important to point out because practice is something everyone can do” (Northouse, 2018). Which when reading that sentence made me feel inspired and hopeful. I feel I can improve motivation, specifically fear of change, by embracing vulnerability and being open to new experiences. In one of the research articles I reviewed for a previous assignment there was correlation with strong nurse leader confidence and respect as well as motivation of nurse staff. (Scully, 2015). Which I am now reflecting on how these characteristics of confidence and motivation can go hand in hand.

References:

Cherry, K (2020). How Emotionally Intelligent are you? https://www.verywellmind.com/how-emotionally-intelligent-are-you-2796099?quizResult=d47e76e9&quizResult=d47e76e9&quizResult=d47e76e9&quizResult=d47e76e9&quizResult=c389fd85

Northouse, Peter (2018). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and Practices (4th edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Scully, N.J. (2015). Leadership in nursing: the importance of recognizing inherent values and attributes to secure a positive future for the profession. Collegian, 22(4) 439-444. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1322769614000869