Aims and objectives To explore clinical nurses’ experiences of using emotional intelligence capabilities during clinical reasoning and decision‐making. Background There has been little research exploring whether, or how, nurses employ emotional intelligence (EI) in clinical reasoning and decision‐making. Design Qualitative phase of a larger mixed‐methods study. Methods Semistructured qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of registered nurses (n = 12) following EI training and coaching. Constructivist thematic analysis was employed to analyse the narrative transcripts. Results Three themes emerged: the sensibility to engage EI capabilities in clinical contexts, motivation to actively engage with emotions in clinical decision‐making and incorporating emotional and technical perspectives in decision‐making. Conclusion Continuing to separate cognition and emotion in research, theorising and scholarship on clinical reasoning is counterproductive. Relevance to clinical practice Understanding more about nurses’ use of EI has the potential to improve the calibre of decisions, and the safety and quality of care delivered.