Managing Emotional Incompetence in Clinical Nursing Practice
Consider your clinical area and regularly identify a problem you face, describing an
emotional incompetence behavior. How can you manage this situation? How can you
handle people with this behavior?
Your initial post should be at least 450 words, formatted, and cited in the current A.P.A.
style with support from at least 2 academic sources. Your initial post is worth 70 points.
You should respond to at least two of your peers by extending, refuting/correcting, or
adding additional nuance to their posts. Your reply posts are worth 30 points.
, Introduction
Emotional competence is a crucial component of effective nursing practice, influencing
communication, collaboration, and patient outcomes. In high-stress healthcare
environments, emotionally competent behavior enables nurses to remain calm,
empathetic, and professional even in challenging situations. Conversely, emotional
incompetence—such as lack of empathy, impulsivity, or poor communication—can
create tension, compromise care quality, and undermine team morale. This paper
examines a common example of emotional incompetence in clinical nursing and provides
strategies for managing and mitigating such behaviors to promote a supportive and
patient-centered environment.
Clinical Problem: Emotional Incompetence in a High-Stress Environment
In my clinical area, which involves acute care nursing, a recurring issue involves
emotionally incompetent behaviors during emergency situations. For instance, one nurse
on the team consistently reacts with visible frustration when patient acuity increases or
when tasks become overwhelming. This behavior manifests as raising her voice,
dismissing colleagues’ input, and neglecting effective communication with both patients
and staff. In several instances, her emotional outbursts disrupted the flow of care and
heightened stress among team members. While the nurse is clinically skilled, her inability
to regulate emotions compromises team cohesion and patient safety.
According to Goleman (1998), emotional incompetence can manifest as low self-
awareness, inadequate empathy, and poor social regulation. Such behaviors in healthcare
Consider your clinical area and regularly identify a problem you face, describing an
emotional incompetence behavior. How can you manage this situation? How can you
handle people with this behavior?
Your initial post should be at least 450 words, formatted, and cited in the current A.P.A.
style with support from at least 2 academic sources. Your initial post is worth 70 points.
You should respond to at least two of your peers by extending, refuting/correcting, or
adding additional nuance to their posts. Your reply posts are worth 30 points.
, Introduction
Emotional competence is a crucial component of effective nursing practice, influencing
communication, collaboration, and patient outcomes. In high-stress healthcare
environments, emotionally competent behavior enables nurses to remain calm,
empathetic, and professional even in challenging situations. Conversely, emotional
incompetence—such as lack of empathy, impulsivity, or poor communication—can
create tension, compromise care quality, and undermine team morale. This paper
examines a common example of emotional incompetence in clinical nursing and provides
strategies for managing and mitigating such behaviors to promote a supportive and
patient-centered environment.
Clinical Problem: Emotional Incompetence in a High-Stress Environment
In my clinical area, which involves acute care nursing, a recurring issue involves
emotionally incompetent behaviors during emergency situations. For instance, one nurse
on the team consistently reacts with visible frustration when patient acuity increases or
when tasks become overwhelming. This behavior manifests as raising her voice,
dismissing colleagues’ input, and neglecting effective communication with both patients
and staff. In several instances, her emotional outbursts disrupted the flow of care and
heightened stress among team members. While the nurse is clinically skilled, her inability
to regulate emotions compromises team cohesion and patient safety.
According to Goleman (1998), emotional incompetence can manifest as low self-
awareness, inadequate empathy, and poor social regulation. Such behaviors in healthcare
