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An empathic approach to patient‐centred care is a core of nursing practice. One of the methods to develop empathy, which is gaining currency is the use of virtual reality simulations in education. This paper posits some questions, does it simply reinforce a ‘type’ of patient, neglecting caring for the patient as unique, is empathy what results or is it pity, does it result in a greater distance being created between the patient and the health care provider? Can we ever really know what it is like to walk in a patient's shoes when what we experience through virtual reality provides a small snapshot of the vicissitudes of living with an illness or disability. We suggest that what matters most in simulations using virtual reality is how the student exits the experience and if they leave knowing just what patients ‘like that’ feel, or whether they leave with humility and curiosity.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of undergraduate nursing students, which may determine the nature of their relationship with clinical nurses. Relationships between nursing students and clinical nurses are critical to maximize student learning outcomes and produce skilled graduates for the future health workforce. Methods: This qualitative content analysis study was conducted from January to August 2016. Twenty nine semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 undergraduate nursing students in Tabriz nursing and midwifery faculty. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim (in Persian), and analyzed using conventional content analysis to identify themes. Results: Four key themes emerged: educational factors (cognitive knowledge and practical skills, and learning motivation); communication skills; perceived support (perceived support from nurses and educators); and psychological state (fear of the relationship and self-confidence). Self-confidence is an emphasized concept in nursing students' willingness and ability to relate with clinical nurses. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that educational, communicative and psychological factors are important determinants of student communication with nurses. However, self-confidence is the most important factor in establishing such relationship. Self-confidence could be further assessed to identify nursing students who need greater support or would benefit from greater educational interventions to achieve relational skills.

Objective To measure empathy within the therapeutic relationship between fourth year Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) intern practitioners and their patients, who are first-year students within the same program. Methods An observational design was used to examine the interns’ empathic communication, evaluated by first year students ‘mystery shoppers’ using the Consultation and Relational Empathy Measure (CARE). First year TCM students went undercover to experience a clinical treatment (acupuncture) by a fourth-year intern in a public Chinese Medicine clinic attached to a metropolitan university in Sydney, Australia. Results Thirty-nine consultations were assessed by 39 undercover shopper students. The Intern practitioners’ consultation and relational empathy was rated as a mean 76.4% (38.2 points of a possible 50 (median 78%; 39); range 24–50. Significant response differences were found between female and male interns with males rated higher. The underlying elements are presented and discussed. Conclusion The intern practitioners’ level of empathy averaged 76.4% which is consistent with empathy ratings for international studies of healthcare students. Results showed that males were rated higher for empathy than females, indicating further studies examining the specific behaviours that characterise empathy of different genders would be a useful addition to knowledge and assist teaching.

In healthcare, empathy is considered a basic component of therapeutic relationships and a critical factor in patients’ definitions of quality care. More than 200 studies have demonstrated the positive impact of empathic healthcare interactions on patient outcomes.1 There is also compelling research demonstrating that healthcare devoid of empathy results in a wide range of negative psychological and physiological outcomes for patients.2 Further, healthcare professionals who practise without empathy are at heightened risk of depression, burnout and attrition.2 While it is reasonable to assume that most healthcare students have an empathic disposition, evidence suggests that empathy levels often decline during the period of enrolment in an undergraduate health degree. Despite the need for more attention to the development of empathy as an employability skill, many healthcare programs only pay lip service to this concept. Against this backdrop we developed a Virtual Empathy Museum (VEM): an innovative digital resource funded by an Australian Technology Network of Universities grant. The VEM includes evidenced-based simulations, digital stories, and a range of other educational materials, designed to enhance healthcare students and practitioners’ empathy skills and enable them to make a positive impact on patient care. This presentation will introduce the VEM with the aim of starting a conversation (or perhaps even a ‘movement’) that leads to empathy being included as an integral component of every healthcare curriculum. The relationship between empathy and patient outcomes will be explored; and the results of a systemic review that examined the effectiveness of immersive and experiential simulation-based interventions in empathy education will be presented.2 References Trzeciak, S., Roberts, B.W., and A. J. Mazzarelli (2017). Compassionomics: Hypothesis and experimental approach. Medical Hypotheses107: 92–97. Levett-Jones, T., Cant, R., Lapkin, S. (2019). A systematic review of the effectiveness of empathy education for undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education Today. 75 April 2019, 80–94.

Nurses comprise the largest group of healthcare providers (Auerbach, Staiger, Muench, & Buerhaus, 2013), and a strong and resilient nursing workforce is crucial to effective healthcare delivery (Pr...

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Purposes: This study evaluated the experiences of undergraduate student nurses with highfidelity Human Patient Simulation Mannequins (HPSMs) and their perceptions of empathy. Methods: An exploratory case-study method was used to investigate the literature on empathy and the use of high-fidelity mannequins in nurse education. Two focus groups were conducted with eight third-year undergraduate nursing students in order to elicit responses to their experiences with HPSMs in their learning, especially in relation to empathy. Findings: Undergraduate nurses found it challenging when using HPSMs in the learning environment to relate to the mannequins as real. Students reported that in their experience, the use of mannequins was not conducive currently to the development of skills necessary for positive interpersonal development of the nurse–patient relationship. Conclusions: Focus group data and the empirical literature suggest that more research needs to be conducted into the use of mannequins in the development of nurse–patient interpersonal skills. Educators need to make evidence-based and pedagogically sound decisions about the use and limitations of HPSMs in undergraduate nursing.

Unless you are a visiting your local general practice clinic where you may be recognised by friends and neighbours, it is unlikely that you will come away from a modern health service with the feeling of having had a warm and empathic encounter with a nurse or doctor. As a patient in an outpatient clinic, one needs to endure time that undulates between long waiting times, with single, brief and hurried encounters with clinicians. There will be complex machinery, crowds of people – other patients, visitors and hospital staff – generating noise and making demands. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

of work on reading for learning skills. The unit was team taught by a head of English and an LEA English consultant. Details of the unit of work as it developed, examples of the students’ work, the issues that arose and how the English Department has developed an overview to tackle this cross-curricular aspect of the Key Stage 3 reading curriculum are included. The potential impact across the range of subject areas is also considered.

Nurses have a crucial role in play in supporting parents and in delivering and referring parents to family-support services. In this editorial, we reflect on papers recently published in Contemporary Nurse. We sought to consider data-based papers on parenting published between 2008 and 2012 and elucidate the role/s and potential roles of nurses in enhancing and supporting parenting. Parenting is recognised as a crucial variable for achieving positive outcomes for children (Dawson et al 2012). Poor, inconsistent or abusive parenting is linked to poor outcomes (Griffin et al. 2000, Holt et al.2008, Patterson et al.1989), while consistent and effective parenting is associated with enhanced child outcomes (Lamb 2012, Landry et al.2001). In addition to being important to outcomes for children, perceived parenting quality is also important to parents themselves. Disrupted relationships between parents and their children have been identified as distressing and potentially damaging to both parties (Jackson 2000; East 2006, 2007; Power 2012).