Chapter One
AN AGE-OLD, NEW
KIND OF NURSING
INTELLIGENCE
AT THE FOUNDATION of understanding and applying any new skill is a
basic understanding of its core concepts and often its history. Every
acquired discipline, from architecture to the practice of law, requires attention
to elementary principles. Emotional skill, specifically as it relates to
nursing leadership, is no exception. In fact, emotionally intelligent nurse
leaders have the opportunity to hone three skills: nursing, leadership, and
emotional ability. In the pages that follow, we will explore the foundations
of emotional intelligence and set the stage for applying emotional
skill to effective leadership in nursing.
The Nurse as Caregiver
Since the dawn of the nursing profession, nurses have been viewed as caretakers
or caregivers. A late nineteenth-century description of the nursing
role includes the following:
...
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