XA3002 Competency Discussion Question 

1. Why do you believe it is important to have a clear understanding of formatting and source citations?
2. How does effective communication and emotional intelligence impact communication with patients, families, and other healthcare professionals?

XA3002 Competency Discussion Answer

As a nurse moving into advanced areas of practice, mastering academic formatting and citation standards has become more than learning a new skill. Communication and the ability to use and cite relevant scholarly evidence are critical competencies at all levels of nursing education and practice. Knowing the standards for formatting and citations upholds integrity in the profession and the trust of healthcare consumers. Communication and emotional intelligence enhance nursing practice and extend to the care of consumers of the healthcare system, therapeutic relationships, and fellow members of the healthcare team. These competencies and nursing practice built on the foundation of evidence-based research ensure the safety and quality of healthcare services. The citation style used most widely in nursing and allied health literature and education is the American Psychological Association, or APA, style (7th ed.). Nursing and allied health research must be presented uniformly, transparently, and with due credit to all sources (Nicoll et al., 2021). When nurses cite research published in peer-reviewed journals, clinical guidelines, or a theory, they are demonstrating more than following a style guide. They are practicing intellectual integrity, crediting the scholarship of others, and providing a pathway for the audience to locate the evidence that supports the clinical question.

Nursing practice focuses on evidence-based care, and the ability to locate, assess, and cite credible sources impacts the safety of patients and the quality of care provided. Nurse practitioners who develop clinical protocols or patient education materials should support each recommendation with current, peer-reviewed evidence. Clinical documents with poor or absent citations are untrustworthy, and this provides an opportunity for uncritical adoption of outdated and potentially dangerous practices. Additionally, correct formatting and citation practices shield nurses from the academic and clinical plagiarism. Plagiarism destroys trust and can lead to losing an academic opportunity or teaching license. Proper citation practices are critical for distinguishing between authentic scholarship and the use of Artificial Intelligence or other digital tools to generate passive scholarship. Beyond academic writing, citation also impacts a nurse’s ability and readiness to critically assess literature, which is foundational for quality improvement and research. Being able to assess a reference also helps in sourcing evidence to support practice. Nurses with a mastery of citation will be able to support clinical practice with scholarly literature, participate meaningfully in clinical discussions, and help develop evidence-based interdisciplinary clinical policies.

Emotional intelligence and communication skills are essential attributes of nurses. The need for such skills in the field of nursing is easily understood. The complex world of healthcare requires personnel who can communicate at the level and bring the care that an individual case requires. This can only be achieved by the nurse’s ability to sustain and carry out the communication skills required while being fully aware of and addressing the emotional needs of the people at stake. Daniel Goleman, a psychologist, developed a model of emotional intelligence inclusive of five dimensions: (1) self-awareness, (2) self-regulation, (3) motivation, (4) empathy, and (5) social skills. Each of Goleman’s dimensions of emotional intelligence are directly applicable to a nurse’s daily clinical practice. There are multiple examples of emotionally intelligent nursing practice. It can provide calm and professional support when faced with highly emotional situations, such as the delivery of a terminal diagnosis, an assaultive patient, or conflict with family members at the bedside. Emotional intelligence during patient interactions is exhibited by nurses’ ability to support patients through therapeutic communication and the purposeful and planned use of verbal and nonverbal communication to support healing and sustain caring relationships.

With families, emotionally intelligent communication is equally critical. Family members often feel anxious, guilty, or helpless when loved ones are in the hospital. A nurse can strengthen the therapeutic alliance and reduce conflict by offering updates in a clear, compassionate, and patient manner, encouraging questions and feedback, and addressing the family’s emotional concerns. Poor communication, characterized by the use of medical jargon, a dismissive attitude, and emotional unavailability, fosters distrust and an increase in complaints, and can contribute to negative incidents. With regard to communication among colleagues, emotionally intelligent communication can be combined with negotiation skills to ensure that nurses can effectively represent the concerns of their patients during a meeting, and deal with and take an active role in power issues that may arise during the meeting (Connor et al., 2023). Because of its reliance on emotional self-regulation, the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) communication tool can be utilized by nurses to ensure that direct, and at times, difficult communication, is conveyed in a professional manner and within the context of a specific clinical situation.

References

Connor, L., Dean, J., McNett, M., Tydings, D. M., Shrout, A., Gorsuch, P. F., Hole, A., Moore, L., Brown, R., Melnyk, B. M., & Gallagher‐Ford, L. (2023). Evidence‐based practice improves patient outcomes and healthcare system return on investment: Findings from a scoping review. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 20(1), 6–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12621

Kawashima, T., Ota, Y., Aikawa, G., Watanabe, M., Ashida, K., & Sakuramoto, H. (2025). Effectiveness of emotional intelligence training on nurses’ and nursing students’ emotional intelligence, resilience, stress, and communication skills: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nurse Education Today, 151, 106743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2025.106743

Nicoll, L. H., Oermann, M. H., Carter-Templeton, H., Wrigley, J., & Owens, J. K. (2021). Exploring the accuracy of cited references in a selected data set of nursing journal articles. Advances in Nursing Science, 45(3), 209–217. https://doi.org/10.1097/ans.0000000000000408