Publication Title

Scholarly Project Presented to the Faculty of Regis College

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

4-16-2022

Keywords

texas; covenant; prelicensure nursing students; empathy; empathic behavior; caring; nurse-patient relationship; perspective-taking; patient experience; Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ); nursing education; simulation

Abstract

Empathy is the ability to see oneself in the situation of another and to take actions on behalf of that individual based on that perception. However, empathy has been shown to decrease in nursing education and continues to do so in nursing practice. Importantly, aspects of empathy have been shown to be teachable. This scholarly practice project examined whether an innovative simulation would increase empathy in prelicensure nursing students. This study, guided by self-determination theory (SDT) and designed according to the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) change model, used a mixed-methods design. The instrument for quantitative data collection was the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) and the qualitative data was collected from a short-answer reflective questionnaire comprised of five open-ended questions. The sample size was n=28, which was a convenience sample based on the size of the cohort from which the participants were selected. The participants were fist-semester prelicensure nursing students from a single school in the Southwest. They participated in an innovative simulation in which they were placed in the roles of patient or family member and participated in a hospital admissions interview led by the simulation facilitator. Data from the TEQ was collected pre- and post-simulation. Data from the reflective questionnaire was collected after the simulation. Data analysis found that TEQ scores increased significantly post-simulation, with significant changes noted in two sub-scales.

Clinical Institute

Mental Health

Specialty

Behavioral Health

Specialty

Graduate Medical Education

Specialty

Nursing

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