Relationship between emotional intelligence and job well-being in Chinese Registered Nurses: Mediating effect of communication satisfaction

Aim: To explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and job well-being among Chinese Registered Nurses, and the mediating role of communication satisfaction in the relationship.

Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed.

Methods: Random sampling was adopted. The study was conducted from September to December 2019, and 1,475 Registered Nurses from a Chinese hospital provided responses to Wong and Law's emotional intelligence scale, communication satisfaction scale, job well-being scale and general information questionnaire. SPSS25.0 software was used to calculate means, standard deviations and correlations, and AMOS 21.0 software was used to establish the structural equation model.

Results: The emotional intelligence, communication satisfaction and job well-being of Registered Nurses in China were related to positional rank, work department, monthly income, years of service, night shift work distribution and intensity of work. There were positive correlations among emotional intelligence, communication satisfaction and job well-being. Communication satisfaction partly mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and job well-being. Improving the level of emotional intelligence and communication satisfaction should be an important strategy to improve nurses' job well-being. Therefore, nursing managers could carry out targeted training on emotional intelligence management and communication between nurses and patients and pay attention to the spiritual needs of nurses and provide psychological guidance on a regular basis.