Cross-sectional comparative study examining the association between nurses' prior hospitalization and empathy scores

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether prior hospitalization is associated with increased nurse empathy. METHODS: This prospective, nonrandomized observational survey used pragmatic sampling. The modified Kiersma Chen Empathy Scale (KCES-R) was used to quantify empathy levels of direct care nurses at a university teaching hospital. Section 1 of the KCES-R focuses on how a health care professional should empathize with patients, whereas Section 2 focuses on the respondent's self-assessment of their empathy with patients. Nurse respondents were divided into two categories based on whether they had experienced prior hospitalization themselves or not. Mean KCES-R values were compared between groups. RESULTS: Experiencing prior hospitalization did not have a statistically significant association with nurses' mean total empathy scores (P = .2426) or with nurses' perceptions of the necessity of empathizing with patients (P = .8532). However, nurses who previously were hospitalized indicated higher empathy scores on self-assessment than did nurses who had never been hospitalized (P = .0432). CONCLUSION: Experiencing prior hospitalization was not associated with nurses' overall empathy or their viewpoints on the necessity of empathy. However, nurses who had previously been hospitalized self-reported having greater empathy with their patients.