Predicting Resilience in Nursing Auxiliary Care Technicians Students: The Role of Emotional Intelligence and Self Compassion

Abstract

To meet the high demand for quality healthcare, it is crucial to have professionals capable of responding to the complexity of their daily tasks. In this regard, resilience, understood as the human capacity to adapt to difficult situations, has emerged as a key factor for nursing personnel. However, research on how to teach resilience to this professional group is still limited. Exploring the relationship between resilience and other socio-emotional variables, for which there is more evidence of their effectiveness in training, may be interesting for developing educational proposals that enhance resilience. This study aims to explore the predictive value of Emotional Intelligence and Self-compassion regarding resilience in a sample of Nursing Auxiliary Care Technicians students. To achieve this, data were collected from 196 participants enrolled in vocational training programs through self-administered questionnaires using validated scales such as the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS; Salovey et al., 1995), the Brief Resilience Coping Scale (BRCS, Sinclair & Wallston, 2004; adapted for the Spanish population by Tomás et al., 2012), and the Self-Compassion Scale Short Form (SCS-SF, García-Campayo et al., 2014; Raes et al., 2011). A structural equation model (SEM) was applied using the EQS 6.2 software to analyze the relationships between these variables. The results show that Emotional Intelligence predicts Resilience through Self-compassion. These findings suggest that incorporating Emotional Intelligence and Self-compassion training into nursing education could strengthen students' resilience and better prepare them for the challenges of the profession. The practical implications of these findings highlight the potential for educational programs to include targeted socio-emotional training, offering Nursing Auxiliary Care Technicians students tools that not only enhance their professional performance but also contribute to their well-being.