TY - JOUR T1 - The relationship between empathy and emotional intelligence among Iranian nursing students AU - Hajibabaee, F. AU - Farahani, M.A. AU - Ameri, Z. AU - Salehi, T. AU - Hosseini, F. KW - empathy KW - emotional intelligence KW - nursing students KW - education KW - PY - 2018/09/19 Y1 - 2018/08/27 VL - 9 N1 - doi: 10.5116/ijme.5b83.e2a5 DO - 10.5116/ijme.5b83.e2a5 M3 - doi: 10.5116/ijme.5b83.e2a5 JO - Int J Med Educ SP - 239 EP - 243 PB - IJME SN - 2042-6372 UR - http://www.ijme.net/archive/9/the-relationship-between-empathy-and-emotional-intelligence/ L1 - http://www.ijme.net/archive/9/the-relationship-between-empathy-and-emotional-intelligence.pdf N2 - Objectives: To determine the relationship between empathy and emotional intelligence among Iranian nursing students. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational study that was conducted on three hundred and twenty eligible students, selected using stratified random sampling. Participants were mainly nursing students at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Data gathering was done using The Jefferson Scale of Empathy and The Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Test. Data were analyzed using SPSS.Results: The results showed a strong positive correlation between empathy and emotional intelligence (r=0.499, p <.001). Students in their fourth year had the highest score for empathy (M=109.16, SD=10.16), while first-year students had the highest scores for emotional intelligence (M= 151.68, SD= 17.47). Female students got higher empathy scores than male students (t= 2.524, p= .012). Age had a strong inverse correlation with emotional intelligence (r= 0.143, p= .010).Conclusions: The results of this study show a correlation between emotional intelligence and empathy among nursing students. Nurses with higher emotional intelligence tend to be better in establishing productive relationships with patients and their families, and if nurses possess empathetic skills, they manage their emotions more effectively. In addition to imparting knowledge and clinical experience, nursing curricula should provide students with opportunities to develop their communication and emotional skills. ER -