Abstract

The aim of this study was to measure and describe social empathy among nurses and to explore how selected demographic, personal, and work-related factors were associated with social empathy. A cross-sectional, observational research design employing mixed methods (i.e., embedded triangulation with quantitative and qualitative components) was used. Registered Nurses employed at a large northwestern US healthcare system comprised the sample (N = 614 [17% response rate]). The sample was recruited via an email invitation that included a link to the study instruments. These instruments included demographic questions developed by the investigator and the following validated tools: Interpersonal and Social Empathy Index (ISEI), and its subscales, Macro – Perspective Taking (MPT – ISEI), Cognitive – Empathy (COG – ISEI,) Self-Other Awareness (SOA – ISEI), Affective – Response (AR – ISEI); the Social Issues Advocacy Scale (SIAS); the Self-Compassion Scale – Short Form (SCS– SF); a single item measuring job burnout; and the Brief Trust/Mistrust in God Scale. Techniques used for analyzing these data included measures of central tendency, analyses of variance, Pearson correlations, and multilinear regression. Qualitative data were thematically analyzed. Results indicate that these RNs had high total ISEI scores (mean of 72 out of a total 90 possible). Social issues advocacy and self-compassion were found to be strong predictors of social empathy, as well as having received and accepted government subsidies, working in an empathy-supportive environment, and having increased work responsibility through one’s nursing position. Findings also revealed that increased age, burnout, higher educational preparedness, and being male was associated with lower social empathy scores. Religiosity was not significantly associated with social empathy. These findings suggest that because social issues advocacy and self-compassion were such strong predictors of social empathy, efforts should be directed to support nurses in these areas. Moreover, healthcare providers should take every possible step to provide nurses with the time and compassionate setting for them to provide empathic care. But most of all, to truly enhance patient and nurse experiences, social empathy needs to be introduced as a trainable skill early in nursing education and/or through employer-sponsored efforts that promote social empathy that can be strong for all genders and personalities.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

School of Nursing

First Advisor

Elizabeth Johnston Taylor

Second Advisor

Lisa Roberts

Third Advisor

Kendal Boyd

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Level

Ph.D.

Year Degree Awarded

2019

Date (Title Page)

6-2019

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Nurses; Empathy

Type

Dissertation

Page Count

xxii, 282 p.

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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