Relationships among active listening, self-awareness, empathy, and patient-centered care in associate and baccalaureate degree nursing students

TLDR

Empathy and patient‑centered care are linked to better patient outcomes, and active listening and self‑awareness are thought to influence empathy and thus patient‑centered care, yet the interrelations among these variables have not been studied. The study examined the relationships among active listening, self‑awareness, empathy, and patient‑centered care in nursing students. Data from 53 nursing students were analyzed with multiple regression to assess these relationships. Active listening and self‑awareness were strongly linked to empathy, which in turn was associated with patient‑centered care; empathy partially mediated the link between listening and PCC and fully mediated the link between self‑awareness and PCC, suggesting that enhancing listening and self‑awareness could improve empathy and patient‑centered care.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationships among active listening, self-awareness, empathy, and patient-centered care in nursing students. Empathy and patient-centered care have been associated with better patient outcomes. Active listening and self-awareness are suggested to be associated with empathy, and, in turn, patient-centered care. However, the relationships among active listening, self-awareness, empathy, and patient-centered care have not been investigated. Data on active listening, self-awareness, empathy, and patient-centered care were collected from 53 nursing students, and were analyzed using multiple regression. Active listening (p < .001) and self-awareness (p < .001) were significantly associated with empathy. Empathy was significantly associated with patient-centered care (p = .003). Empathy was a partial mediator of the relationship between active listening and PCC and a full mediator of the relationship between self-awareness and patient-centered care. Improvement in active listening and self-awareness may lead to improvement in empathy, and, in turn, improvement in patient-centered care.