Emotional Intelligence, Compassion Competence and Clinical Practice Satisfaction among Nursing Students

Objectives The purpose of this study was to identify the emotional intelligence, compassion competence and clinical practice satisfaction among nursing students. Methods The study participants included 235 nursing students located in J province, and the data were collected from November 9 to December 6, 2023, using self-report questionnaires. Data analysis employed Cronbach's α, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and Scheffé test conducted for post-hoc analysis, using SPSS/WIN 24.0 program. Results The mean score of emotional intelligence and compassion competence was 4.75 and 3.78 respectively, and clinical practice satisfaction was 3.41. Emotional intelligence showed significant differences on gender and peer relationship. Compassion competence showed significant differences on school life and peer relationship. Clinical practice satisfaction showed a significant difference on application motivation and satisfaction with nursing as a major. There were significant positive correlation among emotional intelligence, compassion competence and clinical practice satisfaction. Conclusions The findings suggest that improving emotional intelligence and empathy capacity among nursing students can contribute to healthier resolution of conflicts and emotional challenges during clinical practice and better adaptation to clinical situations through increased satisfaction with clinical practice experiences. Therefore it is necessary to develop programs focusing on enhancing emotional intelligence and empathy capacity among nursing students.