Abstract
Background: The role of nurse managers has a scope and range of accountability that place them at risk for high turnover and role exhaustion. Emotional intelligence (EI) was chosen as a focus for this study because of overwhelming evidence in the literature that relates EI with leadership effectiveness, retention, and both physical and emotional wellness.
Purpose: This pilot study was undertaken to explore the impact of a peer coaching intervention on EI abilities of nurse managers.
Design: An exploratory, quantitative, pre- and posttest design was utilized.
Setting and Population: The study took place at a private tertiary care medical center in Honolulu, Hawaii. From an initial sample of 31 nurse managers, 48% (15) completed the 6-month intervention and study posttest.
Method: The intervention consisted of initial training sessions on EI and peer coaching skills, followed by weekly one-to-one peer coaching and monthly check-in group meetings.
Findings: All participants who completed the study perceived that the peer coaching intervention improved their EI abilities and general management performance.
Conclusion: Participants reported peer coaching's positive effect on their EI and performance skills during a period of unusually high organizational stress, providing evidence for the positive effect of the study intervention.