IDENTIFYING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN PROFESSIONAL NURSING PRACTICE BARBARA MOLINA KOOKER, DRPH,* JAN SHOULTZ, DRPH,y AND ESTELLE E. CODIER, PHDz The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects that the shortage of registered nurses in the United States will double by 2010 and will nearly quadruple to 20% by 2015 (Bureau of Health Professionals Health Resources and Services Administration. [2002]. Projected supply, demand, and shortages of registered nurses, 2000–2020 [On-line]. Available: http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/reports/rnprojects/report.htm). The purpose of this study was to use the conceptual framework of emotional intelligence to analyze nurses’ stories about their practice to identify factors that could be related to improved nurse retention and patient/client outcomes. The stories reflected evidence of the competencies and domains of emotional intelligence and were related to nurse retention and improved outcomes. Nurses recognized their own strengths and limitations, displayed empathy and recognized client needs, nurtured relationships, used personal influence, and acted as change agents. Nurses were frustrated when organizational barriers conflicted with their knowledge/intuition about nursing practice, their communications were disregarded, or their attempts to create a shared vision and teamwork were ignored. Elements of professional nursing practice, such as autonomy, nurse satisfaction, respect, and the professional practice environment, were identified in the excerpts of the stories. The shortage of practicing nurses continues to be a national issue. The use of emotional intelligence concepts may provide fresh insights into ways to keep nurses engaged in practice and to improve nurse retention and patient/client outcomes. (Index words: Emotional intelligence; Professional nursing practice; Retention; Patient outcomes) J Prof Nurs 23:30–6, 2007. A 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. E MOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE HAS been recognized as an influential factor in both individual perfor- mance and organizational performance and has been hypothesized by researchers as a potentially useful concept in identifying factors in stories of nursing practice that might be related to improved retention of nurses and patient/client outcomes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to use the conceptual framework of emotional intelligence to analyze nurses’ stories about their professional practice. The goal is to gain insight into issues facing the nursing workforce by listening to what nurses say about themselves and their practice. The concept of professional practice used in this analysis includes the elements first described by nurses in the original magnet hospital study (McClure, Poulin, Sovie, & Wandelt, 1983), which was updated in a 2001 study (Kramer & Schmalenberg, 2002) and expanded by Blais, Hayes, Kozier, and Erb (2005). Autonomy, accountability, mentoring, collegiality, respect, trust, integrity, knowledge, and activism are the elements essential to professional nursing practice. Furthermore, practice includes the structure and processes undertak- en to provide nursing care to individuals, families, or groups. The outcomes of professional nursing practice are quality patient care, professional satisfaction, and autonomy in nursing practice (University Health Net- work, 2005). In short, the description acknowledges that nurses want to be able to practice nursing as it should be practiced. The research question was, bIs there evidence in the stories of professional practice that reflect the compe- tencies of emotional intelligence as it relates to *University of Hawaii School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, The Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, HI. yUniversity of Hawaii School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, Honolulu, HI; Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California at Los Angeles-NIH/NINR T32 007077, P30 NR005041. zUniversity of Hawaii School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, Honolulu, HI. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Kooker: The Queen’s Medical Center, 1301 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, HI 96813. E-mail: bkooker@queens.org 8755-7223/$ - see front matter 30 Journal of Professional Nursing, Vol 23, No 1 (January–February), 2007: pp 30–36 doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2006.12.004 A 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.