Determining the Relationship Between Surgical Nurses' Empathy Skills and Their Knowledge of and Attitudes to Pain

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the relationship between surgical nurses' empathy skills and their knowledge of and attitudes to pain.

Design: A quantitative, correlational research study design, one of the quantitative methods, was employed.

Methods: The study was conducted between March and August 2024 in the surgical units (surgical clinics, operating rooms, and intensive care units) of a research and practice hospital and a city hospital with 242 nurses in the central county of a province in Türkiye. Data were collected using a Nurse Information Form, the Pain Knowledge and Attitudes Survey, and the Basic Empathy Scale.

Results: The mean scores were 16.38 ± 4.65 (40.01%) for pain knowledge and attitudes, 29.25 ± 6.48 for cognitive empathy, and 32.66 ± 5.78 for emotional empathy. Positive correlations were found between pain knowledge and attitudes scores and cognitive (r = 0.156) and emotional empathy scores (r = 0.271), (P < .05). Negative correlations existed between age, work experience, and empathy scores (P < .001). Age and work experience had a negative correlations with empathy scores (P < .001). Empathy levels varied significantly by education, prior pain and empathy knowledge, surgery, and acute pain experience (P < .05). Regression analysis indicated that pain knowledge and attitude scores explained 56.8% of the variance in cognitive empathy and 59.5% in emotional empathy (P < .01).

Conclusions: Study results indicated that nurses' pain knowledge and attitudes were inadequate and that there was a positive relationship between pain knowledge and attitudes scores and empathy levels. In this context, in-service training programs should be revised to include pain management and empathy in detail. Effective multimodal education strategies like case studies and simulations are recommended to enhance knowledge and skills in pain management and empathy.

Keywords: Attitude; Empathy; Knowledge; Nurses; Pain.