Highlights
- •The effect of the concept of mindfulness on nurses' practices needs to be made more understandable.
- •There is a relationship between mindfulness levels and compassion levels of nursing students.
- •Mindfulness relationship with empathy and compassion should be clearly demonstrated.
Abstract
Background
The concept of mindfulness does not attract enough attention in the field of health.
Despite this, it is thought to be effective on the concept of empathy and compassion,
which have an importance in nursing practices.
Aim
The aim of the study was to investigate the correlation between the mindfulness, empathy
and compassion levels of nursing students.
Methods
This is a descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional study which comprised 347
students in the nursing department of a university. As data collection tools, the
Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, the Basic Empathy Scale and the Compassion Scale.
Findings
The results of the study show that no significant correlation was found between the
mindfulness, total empathy levels and cognitive empathy levels of the students, and
that there was a significant negative correlation between their emotional empathy
levels. There was found to be a significant positive correlation between their mindfulness
and total compassion levels.
Discussion
The findings of this study contribute to the literature that the mindfulness of nursing
students is not related to total empathy levels, but is closely related to compassion
levels. Some studies in the literature support these findings.
Conclusion
It is thought that knowing, teaching and developing the concepts of empathy and compassion
in nursing education is important for raising nurses who can provide compassionate
care with a high level of empathy. The practice of mindfulness should always have
a prominent role in nursing education. Its correlation with empathy and compassion
should be consistently highlighted.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Archives of Psychiatric NursingAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The Turkish adaptation of compassion scale: The validity and reliability study.The Journal of Happiness & Well-Being. 2016; 4: 50-61
- Mindfulness in nursing students: The five facet mindfulness questionnaire in samples of nursing students in China, the Philippines, and South Africa.International Journal of Mental Health Nursing. 2018; 27: 975-986https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12405
- A correlational study of happiness, resilience and mindfulness among nursing student.Indian Journal of Positive Psychology. 2017; 8: 105-107
- The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being.Journal of Personality Social Psychology. 2003; 84: 822
- Empathy in nursing students from the metropolitana University of Barranquilla (Colombia).Texto Contexto-Enfermagem. 2020; 29https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-265x-tce-2018-0314
- Compassion and caring in nursing.CRC Press, 2018
- Correlation of nurses' mindfulness with their perception of individualized care: A cross-sectional study.Perspectives in Psychiatric Care. 2022; 54: 2570-2576https://doi.org/10.1111/ppc.13095
- The effects of a structured mindfulness program on the development of empathy in healthcare students.Nursing Plus Open. 2017; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.npls.2017.02.001
- The mindful path to self-compassion: Freeing yourself from destructive thoughts and emotions.Guilford Press, 2009
- Application of a mindfulness program among healthcare professionals in an intensive care unit: Effect on burnout, empathy and self-compassion.Medicina Intensiva. 2019; 43: 207-216https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medine.2019.03.006
- 'A caring professional attitude’: What service users and carers seek in graduate nurses and the challenge for educators.Nurse Education Today. 2012; 32: 121-127https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2011.06.005
- The effects of mindfulness-based empathy training on empathy and aged discrimination in nursing students: A randomised controlled trial.Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. 2020; 101140https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101140
- Empathy, sympathy and compassion in healthcare: Is there a problem? Is there a difference? Does it matter?.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2016; 109: 446-452https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076816680120
- Development and validation of the basic empathy scale.Journal of Adolescence. 2006; 29: 589-611https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2005.08.010
- Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future.Clinical psychology: Science practice. 2006; 10: 144-156https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg016
- The relationship between empathy and mindfulness: Understanding the role of self-compassion.ProQuest Information & Learning, 2009
- Clinical empathy as emotional labor in the patient-physician relationship.JAMA. 2005; 293: 1100-1106https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.293.9.1100
- Mindfulness and compassion: An examination of mechanism and scalability.PloS one. 2015; 10e0118221https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118221
- The relationship between self-compassion and other-focused concern among college undergraduates, community adults, and practicing meditators.Self and Identity. 2013; 12: 160-176https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2011.649546
- Investigation of the mediator role effect of cognitive empathy and emotional empathy variables in the relationship between mindfulness and resilience.Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 2020; 8: 319-335https://doi.org/10.21733/ibad.735391
- Determination of compassion levels and empathic tendency of nursing students.ACU Sağlık Bil Dergisi. 2020; 11: 342-349https://doi.org/10.31067/0.2020.271
- Adaptation of the mindful attention awareness scale into Turkish.Education and Science. 2011; 36
- The compassion scale.(Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from2010
- Nursing therapeutics: Teaching student nurses care, compassion and empathy.Nurse Education Today. 2015; 35: e1-e5https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2015.01.016
- Empathy and compassion.Current Biology. 2014; 24: R875-R878https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.06.054
- Commentary on Part I.in: Eisenberg N. Strayer J. Empathy and Its Development. Cambridge University Press, USA1987
- Mindfulness as a context for the cultivation of compassion.International Journal of Cognitive Therapy. 2010; 3: 113-123https://doi.org/10.1521/ijct.2010.3.2.113
- Turkish adaptation of basic empathy scale: Validity and reliability study.Turkish Psychological Counseling Guidance Journal. 2010; 4
- The role of coping styles, empathy and emotional regulation in predicting mindfulness levels of adolescents.Turkish Psychological Counseling Guidance Journal. 2017; 9: 1247-1279
- Turkish validity and reliability study of the compassion scale-short form.Balıkesir Journal of Health Sciences. 2022; 11https://doi.org/10.53424/balikesirsbd.1004906
- Mindfulness in nursing: An evolutionary concept analysis.Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2014; 70: 282-294https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12182
- Examining the relationship between burnout and empathy in healthcare professionals: A systematic review.Burnout Research. 2017; 6: 18-29https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burn.2017.06.003
- The effects of group mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in nursing students: A quasi-experimental study.Nurse Education Today. 2020; 85104268https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2019.104268
Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 02, 2023
Accepted:
December 27,
2022
Received in revised form:
December 23,
2022
Received:
March 24,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
