[Emotional intelligence: testing the future nursing]

This study traces the nursing students' profile in order to have a prospective professional vision on the emotional intelligence of these workers. Considering that, nowadays, emotional intelligence is a basic requirement for any kind of profession, this research analysed patterns of cognitive, behavioral and emotional skills among the nursing workers. This is a descriptive exploratory study, accomplished in a public institution in the city of Fortaleza-CE, with 138 students enrolled in the first term of 1999. For this analyses an emotional intelligence questionnaire, available in internet, was applied. The subjects also answered questions related to their behavioral, cognitive and emotional skills. As a result, it was concluded that the majority of the students (78.26%) presented a satisfying level of emotional intelligence and only 16.67% would need improvement. In the classification of the three skills as sufficient, regular and insufficient, the cognitive skill exceeded the other two positively. The research showed that students have the basic characteristics of emotional intelligence. They can be in tune and understanding with patients, and also make themselves understood.