The Relationship between a Nurse Leader's Emotional Intelligence and Followers' Job Satisfaction

Based on research projections, the healthcare industry will face a severe nursing shortage, creating a situation that may undermine the very quality of care in hospital settings as it relates to nursing recruitment and retention. Job dissatisfaction has been identified as a major factor contributing to the current problems in recruiting and retaining nurses. Grounded in the theories of Goleman, and Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso, the purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to determine the relationship between nurse leaders' emotional intelligence (EI) and followers' job satisfaction, and nurse leaders' EI and length of years (LOY) in healthcare, and followers' job satisfaction related to LOY in healthcare. Data from the nurse leaders were collected using the Mayor-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), and data from the followers were obtained utilizing the Job Satisfaction Survey. The sample for this study included 31 critical-care nurse leaders and 178 followers, those who directly reported to the nurse leader within two, large, Level-I trauma centers in the Southwestern United States. The goal of this study was to provide empirical evidence to enable nurse leaders to develop new strategies through the use of EI and its reported ability to increase employee job satisfaction. Ultimately, there was no statistical significance between nurse leaders' EI and followers' job satisfaction or between nurse leaders' EI and LOY in healthcare. However, a strong, statistically significant relationship was identified relating to followers' job satisfaction and LOY in healthcare. The significance of the study was to understand nurse leader emotional intelligence and how this may influence the nursing staff's job satisfaction in an acute-care setting.;Key words: Emotional intelligence, job satisfaction.