Emotions at nurse`s work – non-systematic literature review

Introduction. The performance of any job requires the expression of adequate emotions that are consistent with the roles assigned to a given position. This fact has led to an enormous interest in methods of expression and concealing emotions, especially in management, business, education and healthcare.

Aim. Discussion of the influence of emotional intelligence and emotional labour on the work of a nurse.

Material and methods. Literature databases were reviewed using the key words: “intelligence”, “emotional intelligence”, “emotional labour” and in combination with the word “nursing”.

Discussion. Emotional intelligence is critical to the quality of patient care. Nurses make an additional psychological effort that contributes to their professionalism and effectiveness, which is referred to as “emotional labour”. Due to the way this work is performed, two its types have been distinguished: “surface acting” and “deep acting”. The effects of both types of emotional labour differ significantly in favor of deep acting.

Conclusions. The relationships between nurses’ involvement in emotional labour and the quality of nursing services were found. However, little is known about how the emotional labour affects their own health, professional career or job satisfaction. Further research should be able to provide answers to these questions.