www.sciedupress.com/cns Clinical Nursing Studies 2016, Vol. 4, No. 1 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Emotional intelligence and internet addiction among nursing interns Azza Fathi Ibrahim *1 , Dalal Talat Akel 2 , Laila Abbass Mahmoud Abd El Fatah 3 , Mohammad Othman Abudari 4 1 Nursing Education Department, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Egypt 2 Nursing Administration Department, Faculty of Nursing, Ain Shams University, Egypt 3 Psychiatry Mental Health Nursing Department, Technical nursing institute - National cancer institute, Cairo University, Egypt 4 Community Health Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Batterjee Medical College, Saudi Arabia Received: August 2, 2015 Accepted: December 28, 2015 Online Published: January 14, 2016 DOI: 10.5430/cns.v4n1p70 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/cns.v4n1p70 ABSTRACT Nursing graduates, during the internship period, carry a lot of duties and responsibilities which obligates them to use proficient emotional abilities. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the aptitude to manage emotions intelligently which includes a group of emotional and cognitive competencies. There are multiple factors that affect EI. One of them is internet addiction (IA). The aims of this study are to determine the EI and IA levels among nursing interns and to investigate the relationship between them. Hence, the research employed a descriptive, correlative survey which was conducted on all nursing interns who enrolled at the Faculty of Nursing, Ain Shams University, Egypt. The survey instrument included the Trait EI Questionnaire Short Form (TEIQue SF) and the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ). In addition, sociodemographic assessment was involved. According to the findings of this study, the majority of nursing interns have high EI scores concerning, well being, self control, emotionality and sociability. Also, a greater number of nursing interns have low scores pertaining to obsession, neglect and self control of IA components. There is a statistically significant relation between participants’ socio-demographic characteristics and EI scores and IA scores. Additionally, there is an evidence of negative or inverse correlation between IA and EI among nursing interns. Conclusion and recommendations: EI and IA are negatively correlated among graduate nursing interns. These two important concepts should be investigated and integrated into the nursing curriculum. As well, nursing interns should be trained on how to develop EI skills and use of the internet in a proper way. Key Words: Internet addiction, Emotional intelligence, Nursing interns 1. I NTRODUCTION In Egypt, internship nursing students are in the fifth year of their nursing faculty study which focused on field experi- ence only. They can be certified to employment career after passing this clinical training year. In this time the students pass through extensive and comprehensive clinical training in field experience under faculty supervision and evaluation, while carrying full duties and responsibilities in their as- signed clinical practice. Interns seek guidance and advice from their preceptors without any courses or classes. They carry a job of training and working load in the same time in different health settings in Egypt according to their demo- graphic distribution. Generally, an internship consists of an exchange of services for experience between the student and an organization. [1–3] The nursing internship period is considered a stressful time * Correspondence: Azza Fathi Ibrahim; Email: nursing14.jed@bmc.edu.sa; Address: Nursing Education Department, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Egypt. 70 ISSN 2324-7940 E-ISSN 2324-7959