Effect of Training on the Ability of Nurses to Provide Humanistic Care: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: This article describes a systematic review evaluating the effectiveness of training on the humanistic care abilities of nurses. Method: The literature search was conducted in electronic databases to identify studies that evaluated the effect of training on the humanistic care abilities of nurses. Study selection was based on precise eligibility criteria. After the systematic review, a meta-analysis of standardized mean differences ( SMDs ) between posttraining and pretraining humanistic care scale scores was performed to evaluate the effect of training. Results: A total of 11 studies were included (624 nurse participants; 97% women; weighted average age = 38.4 years; 95% confidence interval (CI) [31.5, 45.4]). Training schedules varied and ranged from a full-day workshop to brief weekly sessions for up to 2 months. The training framework involved compassion and empathy communication in most of the included studies. Training improved the humanistic care scale scores of the participants (S MD = 1.171; 95% CI [0.626, 1.716]; p < .0001), whereas no significant change was seen in the scores of control subjects (S MD = 0.588; 95% CI [−0.536, 1.713]; p = .305). The effect of training was observable for up to 1 year, although few studies carried out follow-up evaluations. Conclusion: Training has the potential to improve the humanistic care abilities of nurses. [ J Contin Educ Nurs. 2023;54(9):430–436.]