6.6.1 Different levels of empathic tendency and coping mechanisms in nursing (240)

Laura Cunico Laura Cunico, Researcher in Nursing Science, Scienze Biomediche E Chirurgiche, University of Verona, Verona, Italy Co authors: Anna Meneghini & laura.cunico@univr.it

Abstract:

Background:

In working situations emotional empathy has high price for nurses: they counsciously/uncounsciously control their involvement in order to avoid damages deriving from a too strong emotional contagion.

Aim:

The first aim is to measure if in the nursing job, some coping attitudes are more frequent than others; the second is to investigate if nurses regulate their emotional contagion by coping mechanisms and if who more frequently use them are lower in empathic tendency.

Method:

The Italian version of the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (Mehrabian, 1996) was administrated to 151 nurses (male 20%; female 80%) and a structured interview was carried out on the basis of previous work by Bonino, Giordanengo (1993).

Results:

When faced with the suffering of the patient, the reactions that the nurses most commonly reported are “willingness understand and to communicate” and “seeking for verbal contact”. The sample was divided into four levels of BEES score (from low to high): the relationship between the four levels and work service length is significant (p < .05). Moreover data suggest that when the BEES score is low the nurses protected themselves principally by using the “professional role”; the use of “interruption of eyes contact” increase when BEES score is high. The research is in progress: we are evaluating coping mechanism of nurses by a qualitative approach (interviews) according to Lazarus model.

Conclusion:

Continuous exposure to patients suffering lead to development of coping strategies which are designed to protected the excessive involvement and therefore to reduce the costs of the empathy. About length of work service, the “ long-standing” nurses show a greater capacity to manage the helping relationship concentrating their attention on the other person but also on themselves reducing the risk of being overcome emotionally.

Biography:

Register Nurse, Didactical Coordinator of First Nursing Degree - Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Verona University. Researcher at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery - MED/45 General and Clinical Nursing Science.