Emotional intelligence: predictor of employees’ wellbeing, quality of patient care, and psychological empowerment

Abstract

Abstract Background The study explored the role of emotional intelligence (EI) on employees’ perceived wellbeing and empowerment, as well as their performance, by measuring their quality of care. Methods The baseline data for the present project was collected from 78 staff of a Victorian aged care organization in Australia. Self-administered surveys were used to assess participants’ emotional intelligence, general well-being, psychological empowerment, quality of care, and demographic characteristics. The model fit was assessed using structural equation modelling by AMOS (v 24) software. Results The evaluated model confirmed that emotional intelligence predicts the employees’ psychological empowerment, wellbeing, and quality of care in a statistically significant way. Conclusions The current research indicates that employees with higher EI will more likely deliver a better quality of patient care. Present research extends the current knowledge of the psychological empowerment and wellbeing of employees with a particular focus on emotional intelligence as an antecedent in an under-investigated setting like aged care setting in Australia.

Keywords

• Emotional intelligence
• Wellbeing
• Psychological empowerment
• Quality of patient care