Emotional experiences of professional nurses in a critical care unit of a private hospital in Gauteng : a casestudy

Abstract

The focus of this study was on the regulation and management of emotions among professional nurses in a critical care unit in a private hospital in Gauteng. The aim of this project is to explore and describe the level of resilience of professional nurses, in this case specifically, critical care nurses. The background portrays a journey from emotions and emotional experiences as main focus. The main focus was transformed into sequential emotion regulation and management as precursors to emotional intelligence. An initial literature investigation into emotional intelligence among professional nurses in general indicated that: Much international and national research has been conducted on emotional intelligence among nurses; emotional intelligence is an essential aspect of nursing, as an emotion-laden profession; and emotional intelligence implies positive benefits for nurses. The purpose of this study was to enhance professional nurses‟ regulation and management of their emotions in a critical care unit in a private hospital in Gauteng in order to enhance the level of emotional intelligence. Methodology: A qualitative, phenomenological research design was most suitable for this research that was also explorative, descriptive and contextual and within a case study strategy, combined with the use of interviews. C purposive sampling (Botma, et al., 2010:126) was used to select participants. ASE records included incident reports; organisational records of employee satisfaction, as well as documents that portrayed the care rendered in the unit. Participants were informed about the research by means of a PowerPoint presentation. The sample size was established once the research by saturation of data (Botma et al., 2010:200). Participants were informed about the research by means of a slideshow. Conclusion: The results re-confirmed the existence of emotional labour in the critical care unit, as well as the different emotions experienced in the critical care unit. Results reflect the strain critical care nurses need to cope with, and the different ways they use to regulate these emotions and emotional experiences.