Covid and Emotional Intelligence – Doctors’ Reflections

Since the COVID-19 crisis was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in 2020, NHS staff have been under high levels of stress due to increased workload and patient needs. More than two-fifths of doctors in the UK say that their mental health is now worse than before the pandemic which can negatively impact the quality of patient care. Healthcare workers (HCWs) have carried a heavy burden during the COVID-19 crisis therefore supporting their psychological well-being must be a priority. This paper describes the working experiences of a junior doctor and a consultant in a hospital in UK. Our experiences show us that it would be beneficial to us if we knew about emotional intelligence (EI) in our training. In this paper, we discuss the importance and implications why emotional intelligence is essential for healthcare workers, especially during a pandemic crisis and how it should be included in the training of doctors.