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Recommended by A. Kenny
1, School of Nursing, Auburn University, 221 Miller Hall, Auburn, Al 36839, USA
Received 18 January 2011; Accepted 8 March 2011
1. Introduction
The rationale for analysis of the instrument was to study the psychometric aspects of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy Version R. This instrument was designed to measure nursing student attitudes toward empathy in the patient care setting. At the time of data collection, this instrument was developed as a modification of other versions using a population of health care professionals by researchers affiliated with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson Medical College in the Philadelphia area. The operational definition of the concept of empathy used in the instrument was "empathy is a predominantly cognitive (rather than emotional) attribute that involves an understanding (rather than a feeling) of experiences, concerns, and perspectives of the patient, combined with a capacity to communicate this understanding" [1, page 80].
2. Background
Critical review of existing literature regarding empathy encompasses works of all aspects of the health care profession, such as nursing, medical, pharmacy, and physical therapy. The concept of empathy is one marked with much misunderstanding, controversy, and confusion. Researchers debate whether empathy is cognitively or emotionally based. Even more debate exists as to whether empathy can be taught to health care professionals. Existing instruments include the Empathy Construct Rating Scale (LaMonica), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis), the Layton Empathy Test (Layton), and the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy [2].
The international relevance of the instrument is important to theory development and to advancement of understanding and measuring the concept of empathy in patient care. Through this understanding, there can be improved methods of instruction to students and improvement of patient care. Empathy has been linked with improved patient outcome measures, and is regarded to be a key determinant of patient and family satisfaction, improved clinical outcomes in the form of recovery and healing, fewer malpractice suits and litigations, and overall positive perspectives of care [3, 4]. Much has been learned about the role of empathy in patient care [5-15] and patient outcomes [3, 4, 16-18].
Empathic communication skills are critical to providing high-quality nursing care to patients in an attempt to holistically understand the patient's perspective. These skills pertaining...