Abstract
Purpose: The study explored the relationship between supportive supervision and empathic behavior and the indirect effect of occupational self-efficacy (OSE) among healthcare professionals in public hospitals in Delta State, Nigeria. Design/Methodology: The study is a quantitative cross-sectional survey, and the correlational design was adopted. Through convenience and systematic sampling, data were obtained from 127 healthcare professionals (doctors and nurses) from public hospitals. The sample consisted of 127 healthcare professionals with a mean age of 33.91 (SD, 5.64). Regression analysis via Model 4 of Hayes' PROCESS Macro was used to analyze the direct and indirect effect model with the help of the IBM-SPSS version 23. Findings: The study's findings indicated that supportive supervision and OSE positively and significantly predicted empathic behavior among healthcare professionals. The results further indicated that OSE mediated the relationship between supportive supervision and empathic behavior. Practical Implications: Based on the research findings, it is recommended that public healthcare administrators and managers should ensure that employees who handle direct patient care in public hospitals receive enough training in enhancing their skills, professional development and provided with enough supportive supervision in the workplace to foster empathic concern for their patients. Originality/Value: The research findings enhance and add new knowledge to the empathic behavior literature by investigating supportive supervision and OSE as predictors and checking for the mediating role of OSE.
Highlights
The importance of healthcare professionals in all nations around the world cannot be overemphasized
The results further indicated that occupational self-efficacy (OSE) mediated the relationship between supportive supervision and empathic behavior
The results showed that OSE, after controlling for gender and age, mediates the relationship between supportive supervision and empathic behavior (β = .07, lower limit confidence interval (LLCI) = .01, upper limit confidence interval (ULCI) = .17)
Summary
The importance of healthcare professionals in all nations around the world cannot be overemphasized. The importance of the healthcare practitioner-patient relationship cannot be overemphasized. This has been recognized throughout the history of medicine as a crucial factor in the treatment process (Davies, 2014). This relationship is built mainly on empathy which is a significant factor in ensuring and maintaining quality therapeutic communication between healthcare professionals and patients during the treatment process (Onuoha & Idemudia, 2019; Ward et al, 2009; Yu & Kurk, 2009). Empathy is associated with favorable outcomes for patients and healthcare professionals (Scott, 2011)
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