The impact of theory of mind, stress and professional experience on empathy in Romanian community nurses—a cross-sectional study

BMC Nursing

Research

Roxana Maria Jeleriu¹  Lidia Onofrei¹  Maria Puiu²  Adela Chirita-Emandi²  Costela Lacrimioara Serban³ 

[1] Department of Microscopic Morphology Genetics Discipline, Center of Genomic Medicine, Regional Center of Medical Genetics Timis, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, 2 Eftimie Murgu Sqr, 300041, Timisoara, Romania;Department of Microscopic Morphology Genetics Discipline, Center of Genomic Medicine, Regional Center of Medical Genetics Timis, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, 2 Eftimie Murgu Sqr, 300041, Timisoara, Romania;Regional Center of Medical Genetics Timis, Clinical Emergency Hospital for Children “Louis Turcanu” Timisoara, Timis, Romania;Regional Center of Medical Genetics Timis, Clinical Emergency Hospital for Children “Louis Turcanu” Timisoara, Timis, Romania;Department of Functional Sciences, Discipline of Public Health, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, 2 Eftimie Murgu Sqr, 300041, Timișoara, Romania;

关键词: Community nurses;    Empathy;    Theory of mind;    Stress;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12912-023-01569-2

 received in 2023-03-04, accepted in 2023-10-19,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHigh empathy levels in health professionals represent an important factor in patient satisfaction and compliance, reducing patient anxiety and pain, enhancing diagnostic and clinical results and strengthening patient empowerment. Our purpose was to determine empathy level and to identify which of the socioeconomic status (SES) and psychological factors were able to predict highest empathy levels in a Romanian sample of community nurses.MethodsCommunity nurses were invited in January-February 2023 to provide an answer to an online survey, using an advertisement in a professional network. 1580 participants voluntarily agreed to take part in this study, with a response rate of 85.8%. The survey included the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and socio-economic status items. A multivariate model for the prediction of belonging to the highest quartile of empathy as opposed to lowest quartile was constructed using SES and psychological variables as factors.ResultsThe mean (SD) empathy level was 49.1 (6.7), with 74.7% of participants over the threshold of high empathy level. In the multivariate analysis, predictors of belonging to the highest quartile of TEQ, as opposed to the lowest quartile were: low self-perceived stress level (OR = 2.098, 95%CI 1.362–3.231), higher experience as a community nurse (OR = 1.561, 95%CI 1.120–2.175) and higher levels of the theory of mind (OR = 1.158, 95%CI 1.118–1.199), when controlling for gender, age, relationship status, presence of children in families, education, and income.ConclusionsTraining programs targeting to increase emotional competences, reduce levels of stress and encourage personnel retention have the potential to increase the quality of community nursing in Romania.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023