Nurses' and nursing assistants' emotional skills: A major determinant of motivation for patient education

Aims To explore professionals' (i.e. nurses and nursing assistants) motivation for Patient Education according to their emotional skills. Design A cross-sectional study using a convenience sample of professionals completing self-reported questionnaires assessing their general emotional skills and their Patient-Education-related sense of competence, autonomy and relatedness, according to the theory of basic psychological needs. Methods Professionals from 27 French hospitals working in various departments completed paper and web-based questionnaires between January 2015 - May 2017. Mediation analyses were performed controlling for the already known variables associated with motivation for patient education. Results Usable questionnaires (N = 185) were analysed. Professionals' emotional skills were associated with their motivation for Therapeutic Patient Education both directly and indirectly (i.e. partial mediation) via a higher sense of competence in Patient Education. Among the covariates, professionals who had received a high-level training in Patient Education, those with a high recognition of their work in patient education and nurses (compared with nursing assistants) were the most motivated. Conclusion Professionals' emotional skills are the mainstay of their motivation for Patient Education. Training should aim to develop these skills so that professionals can manage their own emotions better (e.g. frustration when faced with non-motivated patients) and those of patients (e.g. discouragement) and thus effectively support patient self-management. Impact The study addressed nurses' and nursing assistants' motivation for patient education. Their emotional skills were directly and indirectly - via a higher sense of patient-education-related competence - associated with higher motivation. Training for professionals should therefore develop their emotional skills.