本科实习护生共情能力与人格特征的相关性研究

[目的]探讨本科实习护生共情能力与人格特征的相关性,为针对性培养护生的共情能力提供依据.[方法]采用一般资料问卷、中文版杰斐逊共情量表(护生版)和艾森克人格量表(EPQ)对我国5地6所高等护理学院的五年制229名本科实习护生进行问卷调查.[结果]精神质维度与共情能力总分及观点采择、情感护理呈负相关;内外向维度与共情能力总分呈正相关.[结论]实习护生的共情能力与人格特征具有相关性,改变其性格对于提高共情能力具有重要意义.     

巴林特小组对骨科护士共情能力及职业倦怠感的影响研究

目的探讨巴林特小组对骨科护士共情能力及职业倦怠感的影响。方法成立巴林特小组,每月组织1~2次巴林特小组培训活动,于培训前及完成22次培训后,比较骨科护士共情能力及职业倦怠感。结果巴林特小组培训后骨科护士的"换位思考"维度得分较培训前提高(P0.01),共情能力总分及其各维度评分未提高(P0.05);72.73%的骨科护士存在轻中度及以上的职业倦怠感,培训前后职业倦怠评分差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。结论骨科护士容易在工作中出现职业倦怠感,巴林特小组培训对骨科护士在护患交流中的换位思考能力具有一定积极促进作用。     

照顾者共情能力对肺癌化疗病人生活质量及创伤后成长的影响

目的:探讨照顾者共情能力对肺癌化疗病人生活质量及创伤后成长的影响。方法:选择医院231例肺癌化疗病人以及主要照顾者231人为研究对象。采用一般情况调查表、癌症化疗病人生命质量测定量表(FACT-G)中文版(V4.0)、创伤后成长量表(PTGI)对符合纳入标准的肺癌化疗病人的一般人口学资料、生活质量、创伤后成长水平进行调查;采用一般情况调查表、人际反应指针量表(IRI-C)对符合纳入标准的肺癌化疗病人主要照顾者的一般人口学资料、共情能力进行调查。分析照顾者共情能力对肺癌化疗病人生活质量及创伤后成长的影响。结果:不同共情能力照顾者的性别、年龄、受教育程度以及所照顾病人的性别、年龄、受教育程度比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);共情能力不佳照顾者的IRI-C评分低于共情能力较好者,且共情能力不佳照顾者的病人PTGI评分、FACT-G评分均低于共情能力较好照顾者的病人(P<0.05)。经Pearson分析,照顾者IRI-C评分和病人PTGI、FACT-G评分均呈正相关(r值分别为0.852、0.871,P<0.05)。结论:肺癌化疗病人照顾者共情能力与病人生活质量及创伤后成长均呈正相关。     

Toward a comprehensive,theoretical model of compassion fatigue: An integrative literature review

This study was an integrative literature review in relation to compassion fatigue models, appraising these models, and developing a comprehensive theoretical model of compassion fatigue. A systematic search on PubMed, EbscoHost (Academic Search Premier, E‐Journals, Medline, PsycINFO, Health Source Nursing/Academic Edition, CINAHL, MasterFILE Premier and Health Source Consumer Edition), gray literature, and manual searches of included reference lists was conducted in 2016. The studies (n = 11) were analyzed, and the strengths and limitations of the compassion fatigue models identified. We further built on these models through the application of the conservation of resources theory and the social neuroscience of empathy. The compassion fatigue model shows that it is not empathy that puts nurses at risk of developing compassion fatigue, but rather a lack of resources, inadequate positive feedback, and the nurse’s response to personal distress. By acting on these three aspects, the risk of developing compassion fatigue can be addressed, which could improve the retention of a compassionate and committed nurse workforce.     

Interprofessional empathy: A four-stage model for a new understanding of teamwork

ABSTRACT

Collaboration in healthcare implies that health providers share responsibility and partner with each other in order to provide comprehensive patient care. A review of the empirical literature on teamwork in healthcare settings suggests that the relationships between service providers remain conflictual and variable in commitment to interprofessional collaboration. Recently, social psychologists have given considerable attention to the possibility that empathy could be used to improve intergroup attitudes and relations. Although empathy may be referred to as a means to humanize healthcare practices, few published studies from the healthcare literature focus on the nature of interprofessional empathy. Understanding frameworks different from your own and empathizing with other members of the team is fundamental to collaborative practice. The aim of this study was to understand the nature of empathy among members of interprofessional teams within a hospital environment. This study followed the lived experience of 24 health professionals with their perspective of empathy on interprofessional teams. A two-step procedure was used consisting of semi-structured interviews and depth interviews. Phenomenological data analysis was used to identify common themes and meanings across interviews. From the findings, a four-stage developmental model of interprofessional empathy emerged: Stage 1 is engaging in conscious interactions; Stage 2 requires using dialogical communication; Stage 3 is obtained when healthcare professionals consolidate understanding through negotiating differences between each other; and Stage 4 shows mastery of nurturing the collective spirit. Knowledge of this stage model will provide clinicians with the information necessary to develop awareness of how day-to-day activities within their interprofessional teams influence the development of interprofessional empathy.     

Empathic processes during nurse–consumer conflict situations in psychiatric inpatient units: A qualitative study

Empathy is a central component of nurse–consumer relationships. In the present study, we investigated how empathy is developed and maintained when there is conflict between nurses and consumers, and the ways in which empathy can be used to achieve positive outcomes. Through semistructured interviews, mental health nurses (n = 13) and consumers in recovery (n = 7) reflected on a specific conflict situation where they had experienced empathy, as well as how empathy contributed more generally to working with nurses/consumers. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, utilizing a framework that conceptualizes empathy experiences as involving antecedents, processes, and outcomes. The central theme identified was ‘my role as a nurse – the role of my nurse’. Within this theme, nurses focussed on how their role in managing risk and safety determined empathy experienced towards consumers; consumers saw the importance of nurse empathy both in conflict situations and for their general hospitalization experience. Empathy involved nurses trying to understand the consumer's perspective and feeling for the consumer, and was perceived by consumers to involve nurses ‘being there’. Empathic relationships built on trust and rapport could withstand a conflict situation, with empathy a core component in consumer satisfaction regarding conflict resolution and care. Empathy allows the maintenance of therapeutic relationships during conflict, and influences the satisfaction of nurses and consumers, even in problematic situations. Nurse education and mentoring should focus on nurse self‐reflection and building empathy skills in managing conflict.     

Empathy and Patient–Physician Conflicts

Physicians associate empathy with benevolent emotions and with developing a shared understanding with patients. While there have been many articles on managing “difficult” patients, little attention has been paid to the challenges physicians face during conflicts with patients, especially when both parties are angry and yet empathy is still needed. This topic is especially important in light of recent studies showing that practicing medicine increasingly requires physicians to manage their own feelings of anger and frustration. This article seeks to describe how physicians can learn to empathize with patients even when they are both subject to emotions that lead to interpersonal distancing. Empathy is defined as engaged curiosity about another’s particular emotional perspective. Five specific ways for physicians to foster empathy during conflict are described: recognizing one’s own emotions, attending to negative emotions over time, attuning to patients’ verbal and nonverbal emotional messages, and becoming receptive to negative feedback. Importantly, physicians who learn to empathize with patients during emotionally charged interactions can reduce anger and frustration and also increase their therapeutic impact. This work was supported by the Greenwall Foundation and the Berkeley Consortium on Population Health and Human Development, with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH70950) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars Program.     

Assessing Components of Empathy in Sex‐ Offenders with Intellectual Disabilities

Background Because of a lack of research investigating empathy in sex offenders with intellectual disabilities, this study explored empathy in sex offenders and non‐offenders with intellectual disabilities. Specific aims were to explore differences between these groups on measures of the components of empathy. Methods The scores of 21 sex‐offenders and 21 non‐offenders with intellectual disabilities, matched by age, gender and IQ, were compared on the Test of Emotional Perception. Results No differences were found between the two groups across the components of empathy. However, sex offenders who had received treatment performed better on tasks of emotion recognition, emotion replication and response decision than the non‐offenders. Conclusions Further research is needed to understand empathy in sex offenders with intellectual disabilities before any recommendations can be made regarding treatment programmes.     

Heightened emotional contagion in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease is associated with temporal lobe degeneration

Emotional changes are common in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Intrinsic connectivity imaging studies suggest that default mode network degradation in AD is accompanied by the release of an emotion-relevant salience network. We investigated whether emotional contagion, an evolutionarily conserved affect-sharing mechanism, is higher in MCI and AD secondary to biological alterations in neural networks that support emotion. We measured emotional contagion in 237 participants (111 healthy controls, 62 patients with MCI, and 64 patients with AD) with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index Personal Distress subscale. Depressive symptoms were evaluated with the Geriatric Depression Scale. Participants underwent structural MRI, and voxel-based morphometry was used to relate whole-brain maps to emotional contagion. Analyses of covariance found significantly higher emotional contagion at each stage of disease progression [controls < MCI (P < 0.01) and MCI < AD (P < 0.001)]. Depressive symptoms were also higher in patients compared with controls [controls < MCI (P < 0.01) and controls < AD (P < 0.0001)]. Higher emotional contagion (but not depressive symptoms) was associated with smaller volume in right inferior, middle, and superior temporal gyri (P_FWE < 0.05); right temporal pole, anterior hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus; and left middle temporal gyrus (all P < 0.001, uncorrected). These findings suggest that in MCI and AD, neurodegeneration of temporal lobe structures important for affective signal detection and emotion inhibition are associated with up-regulation of emotion-generating mechanisms. Emotional contagion, a quantifiable index of empathic reactivity that is present in other species, may be a useful tool with which to study emotional alterations in animal models of AD.