While empathy is commonly accepted as a mutually beneficial aspect of the health provider-patient relationship, evidence exists that many health profession students are unable to demonstrate this important skill. This study, the initial phase of a 2-year longitudinal series, examined measurement properties of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) adapted for administration to health profession students (JSE-HPS version), and investigated group differences of empathy scores in the baccalaureate nursing (BSN) program within the College of Health Professions at a public university in the southeastern part of the USA. The 20-item survey and a demographic questionnaire were completed by 265 BSN students. Correlational analyses, t-test, and analysis of variance were used to examine internal relationships and group differences. Results showed the median item-total score correlation was statistically significant (0.42). The internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach's coefficient α) was 0.78, falling within the generally agreed standard. Test-retest reliability coefficients were acceptable at 0.58 (within 3 months interval) and 0.69 (within 6 months interval) between testing. Women scored higher than men and older students outscored younger classmates. No significant relationship was found between empathy scores and ethnicity, previous non-nursing degree, or importance of religion to the participant. These findings support measurement properties of the JSE-HPS version, and can bolster the confidence of researchers in using the Scale for measuring empathy in diverse health profession students, as one component of program evaluation as well as evaluating interprofessional learning activities among diverse healthcare professional students and interprofessional collaboration.

Work environment stress, a salient health and safety issue for secondary school teachers, school administrators, parents, and students, was examined in 168 teachers from two urban and five suburban high schools. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between ongoing and episodic stressors and anxiety and depression, as well as the extent to which anxiety and depression may be predicted by stressors and coworker and supervisor support. The Ongoing Stressor Scale (OSS) and the Episodic Stressor Scale (ESS), the Coworker and Supervisor Contents of Communication Scales (COCS), the State Anxiety inventory (S-Anxiety), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were used to measure the variables. Ongoing and episodic stressors were significantly and positively associated with anxiety and depression. Ongoing stressors and coworker support were significant in explaining anxiety and depression among secondary school teachers. Coworker support had an inverse relationship to anxiety and depression.

ork environment stressors are a prominent health and safety issue for secondary school teachers, as well as for most U.S. workers. Previous researchers have reported the detrimental effects of occupational stress on workers, including teachers, who experience a high level of stress and burnout in the classroom (Kyriacou, 2001; Murphy & Sauter, 2003; Sorenson, 2007). Stressors are not restricted to a specific school, city, or state and can influence teachers in public and private elementary, middle, and high schools (Gray

End-of-life care is an important nursing competency and must be incorporated into the baccalaureate nursing curriculum. The purpose of this research was to examine the outcomes of an actual hospice compared with a simulated hospice clinical experience. This pretest and posttest nonequivalent 2-group design consisted of a sample of 65 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in a community health course. All students enrolled in the community health course have 1 day for hospice experience and a 2-hour orientation from the nurse educator at a local hospice agency. Students enrolled in the first 7 weeks were paired with a hospice nurse and conducted home visits. Students enrolled in the second 7-week session participated in 2 simulated hospice clinical experiences on campus. Thirty-two students were in the simulated hospice group and 33 were in the home hospice group. Attitudes toward end-of-life care were measured before and after the intervention with the Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying. The findings indicated positive attitude changes toward end-of-life care. After the hospice clinical experience, both groups seemed to show increases in their mean Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying scores, possibly indicating a greater comfort with caring for dying patients.