Empathy in mental health nursing: learned, acquired or lost?

Kane, Graham M; Snowden, Austyn; Martin, Colin R

Abstract

Empathy is a key dimension within the philosophical architecture of everyday mental health nursing practice. Surprisingly, there have been few investigations on this important psychological domain in mental health practitioners. This investigation sought to determine the relationship between empathy and gender, length of service and area of work in mental health nurses (n = 124) in Scotland. A significant difference in gender was observed with females being more empathetic than males. No other significant differences were observed. The findings, implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Citation

Kane, G. M., Snowden, A., & Martin, C. R. (2013). Empathy in mental health nursing: learned, acquired or lost?. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 2, 28-36. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjmh.2013.2.1.28

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2013
• Deposit Date: Aug 17, 2015
• Print ISSN: 2049-5919
• Electronic ISSN: 2052-496X
• Publisher: Mark Allen Healthcare
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 28-36
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/bjmh.2013.2.1.28
• Keywords: Empathy; mental health nursing practice; gender
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/8989
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.12968/bjmh.2013.2.1.28