Emotional intelligence and social competencies are vital in maintaining interpersonal relations. A holistic approach towards patients is possible only due to the combination of nurses’ professional competencies and soft skills in dealing with people. This paper presents the features of the glossary apparatus and methods available for measuring emotional intelligence and social competencies. A vast number of studies indicate that care provided by nurses who have developed the aforementioned characteristics well is perceived as being better. Those characteristics are also an important factor shielding from burning out. Studying this kind of intelligence and social competencies is a pivotal task, so as to broaden our knowledge on this topic and develop further empirical research. The knowledge about, as well as the measurement of emotional intelligence and social competencies are imperative in implementing their assumptions in real life. Having them in the curriculum can streamline the process of teaching nurses-to-be and greatly improve the everyday practice.

Key words: social competencies, emotional intelligence, nursing care.