<![CDATA[Abstract. Nurses in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) face high work demands that can trigger work stress, making emotional intelligence a crucial factor in managing psychological distress. This study aims to analyze the relationship between emotional intelligence and work stress among nurses in the ICU of Welas Asih Regional Hospital in 2025. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design and total sampling technique, this study involved 35 respondents with the Assessing Emotions Scale (AES) and Workplace Stress Scale (WSS) instruments. The results showed that the majority of nurses had moderate emotional intelligence (54.3%) and moderate work stress (60.0%). The Spearman Rank correlation test proved a significant negative relationship with a very strong correlation level (r=-0.862; p=0.000) between the two variables. It was concluded that increasing emotional intelligence is effective in reducing work stress, so hospital management is advised to facilitate emotion management training to support the psychological well-being and performance of nurses. Abstrak. Perawat di Intensive Care Unit (ICU) menghadapi tuntutan kerja tinggi yang berisiko memicu stres kerja, menjadikan kecerdasan emosional faktor krusial dalam manajemen tekanan psikologis. Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis hubungan kecerdasan emosional dengan stres kerja perawat di ICU RSUD Welas Asih pada tahun 2025. Menggunakan desain kuantitatif cross-sectional dan teknik total sampling, studi ini melibatkan 35 responden dengan instrumen Assessing Emotions Scale (AES) dan Workplace Stress Scale (WSS). Hasil menunjukkan mayoritas perawat memiliki kecerdasan emosional sedang (54,3%) dan stres kerja sedang (60,0%). Uji korelasi Rank Spearman membuktikan adanya hubungan negatif yang signifikan dengan tingkat korelasi sangat kuat (r=-0,862; p=0,000) antara kedua variabel tersebut. Disimpulkan bahwa peningkatan kecerdasan emosional efektif menurunkan stres kerja, sehingga manajemen rumah sakit disarankan memfasilitasi pelatihan manajemen emosi guna mendukung kesejahteraan psikologis dan kinerja perawat.]]>
