Empathy among undergraduate nursing students in Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Empathy is a necessary condition for an effective nursing care. An empathetic relationship between nurse and patients leads to positive treatment outcomes and moral sensitivity among students in clinical and educational environments. This study was conducted in 2014 to determine the level of empathy among nursing students and its relationship with their demographic data. A cross-sectional study (Descriptive analysis) was undertaken using paper-based versions of the Jefferson Scale of nursing Empathy. By using stratified random sampling, 320 undergraduate students from the first to forth-year of their program in Tehran University of Medical Sciences were selected.
The result shows that participants reported good empathy levels, and the average of empathy score was 103 ±11. Empathy scores increased with increasing academic year. There was a significant relationship between sex and empathy. Students who did not passed the effective communication course scored higher than their counterparts. Empathy score increased with age, and older students recorded higher scores than their younger colleagues. Single and employed students recorded higher empathy scores than married and unemployed students.
There were no significant differences between the place of living (dormitory versus personal house), Interest in nursing education as well as their marks.
Regarding the relationship between empathy with students’ academic years, the finding offers insights into the importance of incorporating and promoting empathy in nursing curricula from the first year of training.
In addition, it is necessary to pay more attention to teaching empathy to male students.