Empathy Training Program for Nursing Staff

Empathy Clinical Trial

Official title:

Exploring the Effect of Empathy Training Program for Nurses

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05581381
• Other study ID #: 20210106R
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 19, 2021
• Est. completion date: June 30, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: October 2022
• Source: National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The research purpose is to investigate the effectiveness of empathy training program for nurses, as well as to investigate the effectiveness of learning satisfaction for nurses and the empathy training program learning subjective experience of nurses.The quantitative method is the experimental research method using randomization. The nurses receiving the intervention of empathy training program are in the experimental group, while those who do not receive it are in the control group.

Description:

"Empathy" is an important foundation for nurses to communicate with patients and establish trust relationships. If nurses lack of empathy literacy or cannot apply empathy communication skills, the role of establishing therapeutic interpersonal relationships with patients or family members will affect the professional performance of nurses and the quality of nursing care. Therefore, improving nurses' empathy literacy and practical application ability has a great correlation with good care quality. However, domestic and international research on the correlation of empathy for nurses are not enough and lack of training program, which show the topic of this research is worth exploring.

The research purpose is to investigate the effectiveness of empathy training program for nurses, as well as to investigate the effectiveness of learning satisfaction for nurses and the empathy training program learning subjective experience of nurses.

In order to make the evaluation of research effectiveness more specific and objective, and also hoped that nurses can be the subject of effectiveness evaluation, and have a deeper understanding of their subjective experiences and feelings. Therefore, the effectiveness evaluation of empathy training program for nurses is using method triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative research method.

The quantitative method is the experimental research method using randomization. The nurses receiving the intervention of empathy training program are in the experimental group, while those who do not receive it are in the control group. The effectiveness assessment will use the Empathy Construct Rating Scale (ECRS) and learning satisfaction scale, Empathy Construct Rating Scale (ECRS) required to be completed by both the experimental group and control group. ECRS perform the pre-test, post-test and post-post-test assessments. The pre-test perform before the implementation of empathy training program, and perform the post-test at week 8 the end of empathy training program, and after 8 weeks of post-test performed the post-post-test. Only experimental group require to complete learning satisfaction scale, perform the post-test at week 8 the end of empathy training program. Descriptive phenomenological research method is used as the qualitative method to explore the empathy training program learning subjective experience of nurses. This study will use purposive sampling to enroll experimental group who has received empathy training program learning, and then perform individual in-depth interviews after the end of empathy training program. Non-structured interview guides are used.

Hopefully, this study may develop an empathy training program which is suitable for nurses. This can enhance the empathy literacy and practical application ability for nurses.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 60
• Est. completion date: June 30, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: June 30, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 20 Years to 64 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Nursing staff

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Nursing staff on night shifts

2. Nursing staff working in the hospice and psychiatric wards

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Empathy

Intervention

Behavioral:
• empathy training program
Empathy training, a total of 8 weeks of training (1 time a week, 1 hour each time)

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Taiwan	Xuan-Yi Huang	Taipei	Peitou

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences	Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Taiwan, 

References & Publications (5)

Bry K, Bry M, Hentz E, Karlsson HL, Kyllönen H, Lundkvist M, Wigert H. Communication skills training enhances nurses' ability to respond with empathy to parents' emotions in a neonatal intensive care unit. Acta Paediatr. 2016 Apr;105(4):397-406. doi: 10.1111/apa.13295. Epub 2016 Jan 21. — View Citation

Cao X, Chen L. The impact of empathy on work engagement in hemodialysis nurses: The mediating role of resilience. Jpn J Nurs Sci. 2020 Jan;17(1):e12284. doi: 10.1111/jjns.12284. Epub 2019 Jul 29. — View Citation

Derksen F, Bensing J, Lagro-Janssen A. Effectiveness of empathy in general practice: a systematic review. Br J Gen Pract. 2013 Jan;63(606):e76-84. doi: 10.3399/bjgp13X660814. Review. — View Citation

Fleming BD, Thomas SE, Burnham WS, Charles LT, Shaw D. Improving Ethnocultural Empathy in Healthcare Students through a Targeted Intervention. J Cult Divers. 2015 Summer;22(2):59-63. — View Citation

Kahriman I, Nural N, Arslan U, Topbas M, Can G, Kasim S. The Effect of Empathy Training on the Empathic Skills of Nurses. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2016 Jun 5;18(6):e24847. doi: 10.5812/ircmj.24847. eCollection 2016 Jun. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Empathy Construct Rating Scale	A total of 56 questions . It has good reliability and validity (the internal consistency is 0.92, and the test reliability after two weeks is 0.95). The ECRS(Empathy Construct Rating Scale) includes four subscales of caring (38-item), empathy (9-item), professional relationship (5-item), and communication (4-item), which are scored on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely unsatisfactory) to 6 (full compliance), Higher scores indicate higher empathy	Pre-test
Primary	Empathy Construct Rating Scale	A total of 56 questions . It has good reliability and validity (the internal consistency is 0.92, and the test reliability after two weeks is 0.95). The ECRS(Empathy Construct Rating Scale) includes four subscales of caring (38-item), empathy (9-item), professional relationship (5-item), and communication (4-item), which are scored on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely unsatisfactory) to 6 (full compliance), Higher scores indicate higher empathy	Post-test at Week 8
Secondary	descriptive phenomenological research method	Each interview should not exceed 90 minutes and should be recorded using recording equipment. Qualitative research methods are quite suitable for exploring or less explored research areas or topics, and can gain insight into the nature, characteristics and attributes of life situations, life events, and life experiences.	post-test at Week 8