The Effect of an Empathy Education Program on Nursing Students' Empathy Ability, Interpersonal Ability, and Caring
10.5977/jkasne.2019.25.3.344
- Author:
Jin Ok JEONG
1
;
Sue KIM
Author Information
1. Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Kyung-In Women's University, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Nursing students;
Program;
Empathy;
Interpersonal relations;
Caring
- MeSH:
Education;
Empathy;
Humans;
Interpersonal Relations;
Korea;
Negotiating;
Nursing;
Social Skills;
Students, Nursing
- From:Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
2019;25(3):344-356
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effects of an empathy education program for undergraduate nursing students. METHODS: The study employed a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. A total of 46 nursing students were voluntarily recruited by convenience sampling from senior nursing students from the nursing department of K college in I city, Korea. Participants were divided into two groups, an experimental group of 23 and a control group of 23. The experimental intervention (empathy education program) was conducted from April 19 to May 6, 2016 and consisted of 150-minute sessions, twice a week, for 3 weeks for a total of 15 hours. RESULTS: Participants demonstrated improvements in perspective taking in cognitive empathy, improved empathic concern in emotional empathy, and improved communicative empathy. Analysis of reflective writings identified four theme clusters regarding communicative empathy: improvement of empathic expression, experiencing comfort and healing, improvement of interpersonal relationships, and experience of conflict resolution. Improved interpersonal ability and caring were also identified. CONCLUSION: The empathy education program improved cognitive, emotional and communicative empathy, and interpersonal skills and care, which are all necessary qualities for nurses.
