Relationship between self-compassion and emotional intelligence in nursing students

Nursing focuses on meeting physical, social and emotional health‐care needs of individuals, families and society. In health care, nurses directly communicate with patients and try to empathize with them. Nurses give care under emotionally intense conditions where the individual undergoes pain and distress. Research is aimed at analysing the correlation of self‐compassion and emotional intelligence of nursing students. The population of the research consisted of all the undergraduate students (571 students) of the 2010–2011 fall semester of the department of nursing. An information form, Self‐compassion Scale and Emotional Intelligence Assessment Scale were utilized to obtain data for the research. For the assessment of the findings of research, Statistical Package for Social Sciences 16.0 for Windows was utilized for statistical analysis. Results indicated that there is a correlation between self‐compassion and emotional intelligence and that emotional intelligence, which includes the individual perceiving one's emotions and using the knowledge one gained from them to function while directing thoughts, actions and professional applications, has positive contributions to the features of nurses with developed self‐compassion.