Correlating Emotional Intelligence and Job Performance Among Jordanian Hospitals’ Registered Nurses Zaid Al-Hamdan, RN, PhD, Islam Ali Oweidat, RN, MSN, Ibrahim Al-Faouri, PhD, and Estelle Codier, RN, MSN, PhD Zaid Al-Hamdan, RN, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Nursing, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Ar Ramtha, Irbid, Jordan; Islam Ali Oweidat, RN, MSN, is a Faculty at the Jordan University of Science and Technology, Ar Ramtha, Irbid, Jordan; Ibrahim Al-Faouri, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Nursing, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Ar Ramtha, Irbid, Jordan; and Estelle Codier, RN, MSN, PhD, is an Associate Professor, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI. PROBLEM. Emotional intelligence (EI) is an ability to recognize our and others’ emotions, and manage emotions in ourselves and in relationships with other people. A large body of research evidence outside nursing shows that measured (EI) abilities correlated with employee performance, motivation, and job satisfaction; and preliminary nursing research evidence shows the correlation between EI ability and nurses’ clinical performance. There is less research on the EI ability of Jordanian nurses, and the present study was undertaken to address this gap. METHODS. A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlation comparative design (nonexperimental) was employed. Six Jordanian hospitals were included in the study. Two hundred fifty questionnaires were distributed to prospective participants. One hundred ninety-four questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 78%. EI was measured using the Genos Instrument. Clinical performance was measured using a self-report measure. FINDINGS. Findings demonstrated significant positive relationships between all subscales of EI and job performance, ranging from r = .250, p = .000 to r = .193, p = .007. Regression analysis indicated working in medical–surgical wards, recognizing and expressing emotions scores (β = 0.186, p = .048), and controlling emotions (β = 0.255, p = .027) explained 19.1% of variance in nurses’ job performance. CONCLUSIONS. The study findings confirm the correlation between nurse EI ability and clinical performance. Keywords Education, nursing research, professional issues, workforce Correspondence Zaid Al-Hamdan, RN, PhD, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Ar Ramtha, Irbid, Jordan E-mail: zaid_hamdan@hotmail.com Introduction The national health agenda for Jordan includes healthcare reform that places professional nursing on the center stage. The critical role of Jordanian nurses in health and quality of life improvement is acknowledged by nurses’ role in national policy, healthcare improvement, education, and research. The Jordanian Nursing Council and other Jordanian nursing organizations have addressed many issues similar to professional nursing in other countries: baccalaureate requirements for entry to practice, 1 C  2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Nursing Forum Volume 00, No. 0, xxx 2016