Emotional intelligence and reflective practice are an integral part of establishing a therapeutic relationship in nursing. Emotional intelligence, also known as “EI,” is defined as the ability to recognize, allow, and evaluate emotions. . The ability to control and express our own emotions is very important, as is our ability to understand, interpret and respond to the emotions of others. To be emotionally intelligent, one must be able to perceive emotions, reason with emotions, understand emotions, and manage emotions. First, perceiving emotions or identifying certain emotions is the first step to becoming emotionally intelligent. Nurses can identify people's emotions by their behavior, facial expression, mood, and the way they speak. .Second, to reason with emotions, nurses will need to think critically about how they will help their clients accept their emotions. Reasoning with emotions helps the client prioritize and pay attention to what is important and what is not. Third, understanding emotions can be explained and shown in different ways. It is important for nurses to be able to understand their clients' feelings because this will help create a therapeutic environment thereby enabling them to help their clients and finally, managing emotions is the main key to being emotionally intelligent. The ability to feel and respond to your emotions and those of others is the most important part of being emotionally intelligent. Nurses are advised to be emotionally intelligent as it improves their job performance by helping them balance their personal and professional lives. their physical and mental health by reducing their stress and illness levels and more...... middle of paper ...... interact and communicate well properly with their customers, they must be emotionally intelligent, self-aware themselves, create a therapeutic relationship and develop reflective practices. All of the above contribute to the health of an individual and therefore it is very important that we are able to control our emotions, correct and learn from our mistakes, examine and balance our life and create a therapeutic environment so that our clients feel comfortable, safe and confident. us enough to live their lives in our hands. Reference www.belfastmet.ac.uk/goal/resources/reflectivepractices.page 60 www.cno.org-collegeofontario. Revised 2006. Middleton, J. (2004). A practice for promoting reflective practice within nursing. Retrieved March 31, 2004 from www.nursingtimes.net.Bradley, JB and Edinberg, ME (1986). Communication in the context of nursing (2nd edition). East Norwalk, Connecticut.