The correlation of empathy and communication ability among nursing students in master programs

Objective:To investigate the status of empathy and communication ability among nursing students in master programs, and to analyze the correlation between them. Methods:Totally 137 nursing students in master programs were investigated with the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) and Supportive Communicative Scale (SCS). The correlation between empathy and communication ability was analyzed using a Pearson correlation analysis. Results:The average score of the empathy was 111.79±15.34; the average score of the communication ability was 71.41±7.90. They positively correlated with each other (r=0.370, P0.01). Conclusions:The empathy and communication ability of nursing students in master programs are both at better-than-average level. Their empathy and communication ability needs to be enhanced. There is a low to medium positive correlation between empathy and communication ability. Measures should be carried out to improve the students' empathy and to further improve their communication ability.