IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 21, Issue 3, Ver. IV (Mar. 2016) PP 34-39 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0837-2103043439 www.iosrjournals.org 34 | Page A Study on Emotional Intelligence of Staff Nurses Working In Villupuram District 1 K. Srinivasan, 2 Dr. A. Umesh Samuel 1 Research Scholar, Department of Social Work, Bishop Heber College, India 2 Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Bishop Heber College, India Abstract: The present paper aims to describe level emotional intelligence prevailing among staff nurses employed at hospitals in Villupuram District of Tamil Nadu. This descriptive research study was carried out in 10 hospitals with the objectives of studying the key variables namely Self Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness and Relationship Management that are observed and perceived by the staff nurses employed in these hospitals. The researcher selected all 152 Staff Nurses who were employed during August 2014 to June 2015in the said ten hospitals in villupuram district. Hence census method was adopted.The major findings of the study pertaining to the key variables of Emotional Intelligence revealed that majority (59.9%) of the respondents perceive low level in the dimension of Self Awareness and (58.6%) in the dimension of Self-Management whereas more than half of the respondents (53.3%) observe low level in the dimension of Social Awareness and (52.6%) in the dimension of Relationship Management. Almost only half namely 48 percentage of the respondents experience high level of overall Emotional Intelligence whereas more than half namely 52 percentage of the respondents recognize low with regard to overall level of Emotional Intelligence. The present paper also portrays suitable suggestions for enhancing the level of Emotional Intelligence among the staff nurses. Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Relationship Management, Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness I. Introduction Nursing among health care profession is responsible in assisting physical and handling emotional and stressful situations of patients. The role of Staff Nurses in offering high quality medical services attending to patients emotional needs such as pains, agitation, and depression due to their health condition and other physical exhaustion is inevitable. The Staff Nurses has to possess the necessary skills in dealing with such stressful situations and to manage their emotions when in contact with patients especially in critical situations. Likewise, lack of control on emotions can lead to irrevocable negative effects on both nurses and patients. Therefore it is important for Staff Nurses to paying attention to patients’ emotional needs and self that enables better treatment, higher satisfaction, peace, and smooth recovery process. Hence management and understanding of one’s emotions is a significant skill for the personnel working in health care systems because it can lead to more patient-centered cares and a better nurse-patient interaction, which will result in higher satisfaction on the part of patients. According to Goleman (1990) Emotional Intelligence is the ability to control one’s and others’ emotions and feelings, accept others’ point of view, and control one’s social and personal relations and revised the same in to four components such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.Therefore Staff Nurses who are more aware of emotions have a more respectful attitude in their interactions with patients and can manage patients better by knowing their emotions and needs with empathy. This skill is also known as one of the most important factors in improving cooperation among Staff Nurses themselves for maintaining positive interpersonal relationships. This study focuses in describing levels of emotional Intelligence considering dimensions of the same such as Self Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness and Relationship Management in a scientific manner. The study also exhibits selected socio demographic profile of respondents for better understanding of the situation and to suggest in relation to the findings. II. Aims and Objectives The study is concerned with the following main aims and objectives: 1. To describe the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. 2. To identify level of Emotional Intelligence among the Staff Nurses pertaining to self-awareness, self- management, social awareness and relationship management. 3. To suggest suitable measures for enhancing level of emotional intelligence among the Staff Nurses.