Levels of empathy in undergraduate nursing students

Abstract

Empathy is a central component in effective healthcare provider-patient relationships, yet evidence exists that healthcare professions students lack empathy. A cross-sectional survey was completed to identify whether a relationship exists between empathy levels in baccalaureate nursing, psychology, pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-physical therapy, and pre-occupational therapy majors who have or have not identifi ed a projected specialty within their profession upon entry into practice, and compare these fi ndings. A 28-item questionnaire was completed by a convenience sample of202 students with declared majors in the healthcare professions of interest. There was no signifi cant difference in empathy levels between students of all majors who had or who had not indicated a proj ected specialty, validating findings in previous research (Ward et aI., 2009). Empathy levels in nursing students with a proj ected specialty were signifi cantly higher than those of students in all other majors with proj ected specialties. Gender and age signifi cantly infl uenced empathy levels between students of all maj ors with a proj ected specialty. These findings expand the current understanding of empathy and what may infl uence empathy levels in students planning to enter healthcare. Suggestions fo r future research are described.

Empathetic attitudes of undergraduate paramedic and nursing students towards four medical conditions: A three-year longitudinal study

“…Students also indicated that substance abuse problems were self-inflicted, irritating and difficult to work with and thus not as worthy of compassion or empathy. These results are similar to the findings of other MCRS studies that show students have the lowest regard for patients presenting with substance abuse problems (Boyle et al, 2010a(Boyle et al, , 2010bBrown et al, 2010;McKenna et al, 2011McKenna et al, , 2012.…”

“…Double-degree students showed an increase in regard towards patients presenting with intellectual disabilities, substance abuse and attempted suicide by their third year of study. Patients presenting with substance abuse had the lowest regard from paramedic students with is typical result found by other studies (Boyle et al, 2010a(Boyle et al, , 2010bBrown et al, 2010;McKenna et al, 2011McKenna et al, , 2012. Finally, this study demonstrates that females generally have a higher regard for patients presenting with intellectual disabilities, substance abuse and attempted suicide compared to their male counterparts.…”

Empatía en estudiantes de enfermería de la Universidad Mayor, Sede Temuco, IX región, Chile

“…Aunque pareciera no haber fundamento para decir si la empatía es una dimensión de la personalidad, una emoción experimentada o una habilidad observable, sí se sabe que involucra la habilidad de comunicar la comprensión del mundo del paciente. Por estas razones se sigue estudiando y, a pesar de que existe amplia información en la literatura que investiga la empatía, se considera a esta como un constructo clave como facilitador importante en las relaciones paciente-profesional del área salud (55)(56)(57), entre otros muchos complejos procesos involucrados en ella.…”

Çocuk Hemşiresi ve Öğrencilerinin Empatik Eğiliminin Aile Merkezli Yaklaşımına Etkisinin Karşılaştırmalı Olarak İncelenmesi

“…Araştırmamızda çocuk kliniklerinde çalışan hemşirelerin empatik eğilim puanlarının orta düzeyde olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Hemşireler ile ilgili empati çalışma-larında hemşirelerin empatik eğilim puanlarının çalışmamız ile benzer şekilde orta düzeyde olduğu görülmektedir (35 (30,(36)(37)(38)(39). Hemşirelik uygulamalarında empatiyi kullan-mak hastaların klinik ve sağlık çıktılarını pozitif yönde etkilemektedir.…”