Empathy education in post-graduate nurses : an integrative review

Aim: This study reviews the outcomes of programmes teaching empathy to post-graduate nurses. Background: Nurses who are able to empathise with their patients, place themselves within a preferred position to deliver better patient outcomes. There have been substantial efforts to improve the empathy skill level of undergraduate nursing students, with success but understanding this skill level at the post graduate level is limited. Design: An integrated literature review of the qualitative and quantitative literature on nurse post graduate education programmes over the last 10 years was conducted. Data sources: CINAHL, Medline, Psych-Info, Google Scholar and hand searching of reference lists of relevant papers were used. Review methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used for quality appraisal. Results: The review includes nine quantitative non randomised studies and one qualitative study. The findings suggest that empathy skills in post graduate nurses can be improved, but given the variation in the operational definition of empathy used, range in frequency and length of training and speciality specific requirements further work is needed to understand the use of 'empathy' in the post graduate nurse. Conclusion: Future non university based or 'in house' empathy education in nursing should focus on the post graduate nurse and the needs of their clinical specialties.