The relationship of emotional intelligence to burnout and related factors in healthcare profession students

Background: High prevalence of burnout amongst healthcare profession students results in detrimental effects on academic performance, mental health, and quality of life. Emotional intelligence is a trainable skillset demonstrated to protect against burnout, improve psychological well-being, and decrease anxiety and stress, yet it lacks standardized inclusion in many healthcare profession program curricula. Objectives: To explore the utility of emotional intelligence as a tool for burnout mitigation, this study aimed to determine the relationship between emotional intelligence and burnout in an interprofessional sample of healthcare profession students and identify related variables. Design: Cross-sectional survey study. Settings: Data was collected over 14 weeks in the fall of 2022 via a nationally distributed online survey. Participants: 147 healthcare profession students from the following professional or doctoral programs: Master of Science in Athletic Training (ATC), Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), Master of Science in or Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OT/OTD), Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Doctor of Medicine (MD), Physician Assistant Studies (PA-S), Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN), or Nurse Practitioner Studies (NP). Methods: Participants completed a demographics form (personal/school related variables including prior education and mindfulness habits), the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF), Oldenberg Burnout Inventory-Student (OLBI-S), and RU-SATED sleep health scale. Results: A large negative correlation was noted between emotional intelligence and burnout (r = −0.591, p < .001). Emotional intelligence and age were significant predictors of burnout. Previous emotional intelligence learning and mindfulness practice also demonstrated significant differences in emotional intelligence. Conclusions: These findings suggest that greater emotional intelligence may have a positive impact on burnout and wellbeing in healthcare profession students. Educational interventions aimed to improve emotional intelligence should be explored for inclusion in healthcare profession educational program curricula.