| This study investigates levels of empathy possessed by graduating baccalaureate and associate degree nursing students. This research tests for a significant difference in empathic ability in relation to various characteristics of nursing students including age, SAT or ACT scores, marital status, parental status, sex, and clinical preference. Meaningful research, comparing baccalaureate and associate degree nursing students in empathic levels assists in delineating one possible difference in their practice and provides one method to evaluate the psychological aspect of nursing practice. The nursing role of providing empathic care is based on the theory of the therapeutic relationship described by Rogers (1951). The sample for testing consists of 121 graduating students from 3 associate schools and 116 graduating students from 5 baccalaureate schools. All nursing schools are accredited by the National League for Nursing.;The instrumentation includes two parts: (a) Empathy Construct Rating Scale (ECRS) and (b) demographic information. The ECRS was chosen because of its proven construct validity and specificity to nursing (LaMonica, 1981). Utilizing the t test, analysis of variance and covariance, and Pearson correlation coefficient, the research design compares two groups of graduating nursing students' empathy levels. Statistical analysis revealed that graduating nursing students possess relative high levels of empathy, but associate degree nursing students scored significantly higher than baccalaureate nursing students (p < .05). Results also indicated that female nursing students scored significantly higher (p < .01).;in empathy than male students, and students with children scored significantly higher in empathy (p < .05) than students without children.;References.;LaMonica, E. L. (1981). Construct validity of an empathy instrument. Research in Nursing and Health, 4, 389-400. Rogers, C. R. (1951). Client-centered therapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. |
