Relationship between self-consciousness and empathy for cancer patients among nursing students: The moderating effects of clinical practice satisfaction

Patients with cancer experience physical and mental difficulties that can be relieved with the support and empathy of healthcare professionals. Empathy can be affected by self-consciousness. The clinical performance and interpersonal competence of nursing students are related to their satisfaction with clinical practice.This study explored the moderating effect of clinical practice satisfaction of nursing students on the relationship between self-consciousness and empathy for patients with cancer.Cross-sectional descriptive study.Three colleges of nursing in South Korea.A total of 136 senior nursing students across three universities.The participants completed an online questionnaire on demographic and education-related characteristics, self-consciousness, and empathy competency. We used the Korean versions of the Self-Consciousness Scale and Empathy Construct Rating Scale. The overall response rate was 42.5 %. SPSS PROCESS macro was used to test the moderating role of satisfaction with clinical practice.Private self-consciousness was significantly associated with clinical practice satisfaction and empathy. The relationship between practice satisfaction and empathy was significantly positive. In addition, the satisfaction of the nursing students with clinical practice moderated the association between private self-consciousness and empathy for patients with cancer. Empathy was more affected by private self-consciousness among senior nursing students who were less satisfied with clinical practice than among those who were more satisfied with clinical practice.To improve empathy for patients with cancer, educational strategies must be created to improve the private self-consciousness and satisfaction with the clinical practice of nursing students.