A concept analysis: Emotional regulation of nurses

Aim To explore the concept of emotional regulation in nursing. Background People are exposed to a variety of potentially emotion‐provoking stimuli almost on a daily basis. The fact that these types of stimuli do not trigger full‐blown emotions every time suggests that people are able to manage their own emotions through an internal process. The process is referred to as emotional regulation (ER). Nursing is a stressful and emotionally charged profession, yet the concept of ER is not well explored in the nursing literature. Design Concept analysis. Data Source Electronic databases searched were CINAHL, PubMed, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar. Forty‐one articles were used in the review of this concept, of which six articles were used to review ER in nursing. Most of the articles on ER were from the field of psychology. Review Methods Walker and Avant's eight‐step to concept analysis. Data extracted from the articles were used in identifying the definitions, related concepts, uses of the concept of ER, and antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents. Results Four defining attributes of ER were identified as self‐awareness, control, emotional expression, and active thinking. Definitions, the uses of the concept of ER, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents are discussed. Model, related and contrary cases were developed. Conclusion The concept of ER has implications and significance to nursing as nurses are exposed to a variety of emotion‐provoking situations when performing nursing tasks.