The communication skills and the empathic tendency levels of nursing students: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The most basic component of communication skills is the complex and multidimensional skill of empathy.Aim: This study was conducted to assess the communication skills and empathic tendency levels of female nursing students Turkish university.Methods: This cross-sectional study sample consisted of 342 nurse student.Results: There was a significant difference between the classes in terms of communication skills (0.021, p < .05) but no significant difference in terms of the empathic tendency levels (0.712, p > .05). The mean communication skills score increased in the final year but empathic tendency levels did not increase with increasing school years.Conclusion: This result suggests that the empathic tendency level could not be increased with the courses in the curriculum in our study. The results suggest that empathic tendency levels were not increased with subsequent nursing coursework. Determining empathic predisposition levels prior to entry into nursing programs should therefore be considered.