An exploration of the emotional intelligence (EI) of radiographers in the UK

Abstract

The project is designed as the first of a series of projects that could potentially benefit radiographers, patients and the practice of radiography. EI in Radiography This project will survey the emotional intelligence of radiographers. Emotional intelligence (EI) is a set of competences and skills which are self-awareness and management, social awareness and relationship management (Goleman 1995). If these skills are applied to a radiographic context then one might expect the following outcomes. An impact on patient care where for example a diagnostic radiographer with high emotional intelligence would be able to read and meet the emotional needs of a patient during a mammographic examination. Alternatively a therapy radiographer with high emotional intelligence, when working with a patient with a terminal illness, might be able to recognise and manage her own emotions in relation to a patient whom she has built up a relationship with over several therapy sessions. There would also be an impact on team working where for example radiographers with low emotional intelligence might not be able to manage their own emotions well and may not recognise emotional responses in their colleagues. Therefore they would not be able to work as well in a team as those with high emotional intelligence. The survey This survey will explore radiographers as a whole and subgroups of radiographers e.g. diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers or mammographers or CT radiographers, in order to characterise their emotional intelligence. It will then compare subgroups within the profession and all radiographers and the subgroups to other professional/discipline groups. This will provide unique and valuable information about radiographers levels of emotional intelligence within and outside the profession. The future impact This data could open up several new avenues for research and development in radiographer performance (see Potential Impact section). For example it has been shown that EI can be developed with various interventions (Boyatzis, Cowan and Kolb 1995 and others). Therefore training programmes can be targeted to improve EI in radiographers and hence improve patient care and inter and intra professional team working skills. The research team behind this proposal have ambitions to develop emotional intelligence research within radiography. Several research questions are unanswered such Is there a link between emotional intelligence and radiographer performance in mammography? Are there baseline levels of emotional intelligence that applicants to the radiography profession should reach before being allowed to enter the profession, Do improvement in EI in radiographers lead to improved team working in practice? The outcomes of this survey would pave the way for research in these areas.