Effectiveness of Integrated Emotional-Self Enhancement (IESE) program among staff nurses: protocol for a quasi-experimental study

Background: Staff nurses face frequent emotional situations in their work environment. The constant contact with suffering patients, and the busy work environment, pose tremendous stress on nurses' physical and emotional health. The Emotional Intelligence skills of empathy, self-awareness, motivation, self-control, and keeping relationships, can help handle difficult emotions and allow nurses to work in an organized, calm, and professional way. This study aims to implement and assess the effectiveness of a training program developed by the investigator, tailored to the mental and emotional needs of staff nurses who are working in an organisation. The study also aims to observe any significant change, correlation, and association in the staff nurses’ level of emotional intelligence, intrinsic motivation, self-compassion, emotional labour, and nurse-in-charges’ and patients’ perception of nursing care after the program. Methods: A quasi-experimental (one-group) study design will be used in this study. The study will involve 80 staff nurses working in a selected hospital in India. The staff nurses will be selected from the hospital's general wards using convenience sampling. The investigator will deliver a training program, divided into four sessions of two hours each. Data will be collected from the participants at baseline and 3-months pre-intervention; and post-test data will be collected immediately after the intervention, at 3-month, and 6-month follow-up, to observe any significant change in the study variables before and after the intervention. Results: The current study primarily focuses on the vital aspect of developing emotional needs, for promoting a better work-life balance. Research findings from the study will significantly contribute to the evidence-based Emotional Intelligence programs for staff nurses, and if proven effective, could be delivered extensively in hospitals. Trial registration: The study is registered in June 2019 under the Central Trial Registry of India (http://www.ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/showallp.php?mid1=35761&EncHid=&userName=CTRI/2019/08/020592 CTRI/2019/08/020592).