Empathy Training for Hospital Staff Nurses

Abstract

Extensive research indicates that individuals in helping professions such as nursing must be empathic. The purpose of this study was to design and assess the effectiveness of an empathy-training program for hospital staff nurses. The nursing staff from two medical/surgical units in a large medical center participated in the study. The experimental group of nurses (n = 20) participated in an intensive training program designed to help them become more empathic and improve their interactions with patients. The control group of nurses (n = 16) did not receive any training. Pre- and posttraining measures of emotional empathy/empathic tendency were used, and results indicated that the training program enhanced nurses' empathy in the experimental group.