Empathic decline and training in nursing students

This was a non-experimental and cross-sectional study. Two populations of nursing students in two nursing programs were studied: Universidad San Sebastián (Santiago, Chile) and Universidad Mayor (Temuco, Chile). The original data on empathy, assessed by the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, were combined into a single data base. They were then analyzed by means of normality tests and homoscedasticity, Cronbach’s alpha, analysis of variance; the standard deviation of the dependent outcome measure (Sy.x) and the coefficient of determination (R²) were estimated.

Results

The sample sizes from the two programs were 479 and 277, respectively. It was found that the distributions of the averages over the course of study for empathy (and its components) were constant, and in some cases increased.

Conclusion

It was found that the distribution of the means of empathy in the nursing students analyzed did not conform to the classical empathic decline observed in other studies. Therefore, it is inferred that the traditional factors identified as causes of empathic erosion were not operating in the same way in the studied context.

Students, Nursing; Empathy; Nurse-Patient Relations; Nurse’s Role

			E	CC	PT	AUO

University	C	G	M±SD	M±SD	M±SD	M±SD	n (%)
UM	First	F	111.37±15.01	36.63±9.47	63.22±5.58	11.52±4.04	46 (20.2)
(Temuco)		M	111.94±13.76	38.00±8.56	64.33±5.20	9.61±3.66	18 (6.4)
		Total	111.53±14.56	37.02±9.17	63.53±5.46	10.98±4.00	64 (23.1)
	Second	F	119.81±11.54	43.51±6.39	65.14±5.46	11.16±3.31	43 (15.5)
		M	118.50±15.39	43.44±7.89	64.19±6.54	10.88±3.84	16 (5.7)
		Total	119.46 ±12.57	43.49±6.76	64.88±5.73	11.08±3.43	59 (21.2)
	Third	F	123.59±8.21	45.80±3.62	65.35±4.25	12.44±3.80	66 (23.8)
		M	125.86±4.59	47.43±2.63	66.43±2.29	12.00±2.16	7 (2.5)
		Total	123.81±7.94	45.96±3.56	65.45±4.11	12.40±3.66	73 (26.4)
	Fourth	F	118.53±14.01	42.77±7.46	62.77±7.49	13.00±3.61	47 (16.9)
		M	112.00±5.33	41.40±4.39	60.40±6.87	10.20±2.38	5 (1.8)
		Total	117.90±13.53	42.63±7.21	62.54±7.41	12.73±3.59	52 (18.7)
	Fifth	F	123.08±12.21	44.87±4.79	63.79±8.98	14.42±3.83	24 (8.6)
		M	123.40±9.76	46.20±2.68	64.20 ±6.65	13.00 ±3.39	5 (1.8)
		Total	123.14±11.66	45.10±4.49	63.86 ±8.52	14.17±3.74	29 (14.5)
	Total	F	119.28±12.84	42.77±7.36	64.17±6.16	12.34±3.83	226 (81.6)
		M	117.04±13.25	42.14 ±7.68	64.18±5.67	10.73±3.49	51 (18.4)
		Total	118.87±12.92	42.65±7.41	64.17 ±6.06	12.04±3.81	277 (100)
USS	First	F	106.54±17.19	35.72±8.56	58.15±9.63	12.68±3.47	68 (12.7)
(Santiago)		M	108.39±13.29	37.41±6.84	58.85±7.87	12.12±3.26	41 (7.7)
		Total	107.24±15.80	36.36±7.97	58.41±8.98	12.47±3.39	109 (20.4)
	Second	F	109.18±12.10	36.69±7.32	61.57±5.72	10.92±3.57	74 (13.8)
		M	104.45±15.14	33.89±8.17	58.84±7.47	11.73±3.20	44 (8.3)
		Total	107.42±13.44	35.64±7.98	60.55±6.53	11.22±3.45	118 (22.1)
	Third	F	115.39±12.62	40.91±7.81	62.59±6.34	11.89±3.59	79 (14.7)
		M	109.90±13.91	39.98±6.45	58.68±7.53	11.25±3.24	40 (7.5)
		Total	113.55±13.27	40.60±7.36	61.28±6.99	11.67±3.48	119 (22.2)
	Fourth	F	117.34±10.06	43.80±4.23	60.38±6.51	13.16 ±3.83	56 (10.5)
		M	110.80±12.86	40.93±6.28	58.97±6.71	10.90±3.18	30 (5.6)
		Total	115.06±11.47	42.80±5.19	59.88±6.58	12.37±3.47	86 (16.1)
	Fifth	F	114.67±13.46	42.22±5.99	60.24±7.26	12.21±3.81	72 (13.4)
		M	115.29±10.47	43.13±4.15	60.35±6.23	11.81±3.85	31 (5,7)
		Total	114.85±12.59	42.50±5.49	60.27±6.93	12.09±3.81	103 (19.2)
	Total	F	112.51±13.86	39.74±7.74	60.67±7.31	12.11±3.64	349 (65.3)
		M	109.32±13.71	38.65±7.33	59.08±7.21	11.59±3.32	186 (34.7)
		Total	111.40±13.88	39.36±7.61	60.12±7.31	11.93±3.54	535 (100)
University	Gender		Regression Equation	Sy.x		R²
E
UM	F		E=84,3+ 37,4C – 11.9C² +1.9C³	2.72		.92
UM	M		E= 73.4 – 54.7C – 19.2C²+2.04C³	8.13		.59
USS	F		E= 109.3-7.29C+5.08C²-0.69C³	.89		.99
USS	M		E= 118.0-14.7C+5.23C²-0.48C³	2.63		.88
CC
UM	F		CC= 16.9+27.1C-8.35C²+0.8C³	1.44		.97
UM	M		CC= 16,1+30.4C-10.02C²+1.02C³	3.52		.78
USS	F		CC=47.2-15.9C+6.9C²-0.79C³	.38		.99
USS	M		CC= 48.4-17.3C+6.7C²-0.69C³	2.54		.87
PT
UM	F		TPP=54.7+12.3C-4.3C²+0.44C³	.89		.85
UM	M		TPP=54.5+14.4C+5.6C²+0.62C³	3.42		.38
USS	F		TPP=48.3+13.5C-4.09C²+0.37C³	.73		.95
USS	M		TPP=58.1+14.0C-0.69C²+0.103C³	.01		.99
AUO
UM	F		AUO= 11.6-0.45C+0.203C²	.37		.96
UM	M		AUO=2.73+9.9C-3.6C²+0.39C³	1.24		.79
USS	F		AUO=20.03-11.03C+4.03C²-0.43C³	.01		.99
USS	M		AUO=11.5+1.34C-0.82C²+0.11C³	.11		.98

Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Enfermagem Av. Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 419 , 05403-000 São Paulo - SP/ Brasil, Tel./Fax: (55 11) 3061-7553, - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: reeusp@usp.br

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[1] Corresponding author: Víctor Patricio Díaz Narváez Echaurren 237, Región Metropolitana Santiago, Chile vicpadina@gmail.com