Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena
| Thesis Title | The correlation between empathy and burnout: a cross-sectional study among nurses and nursing students |
|---|---|
| Name | Guerra Eleonora |
| Supervisor(s) | Ferri Paola |
| Academic Year | 2013/14 |
| Thesis type | Research thesis |
Abstract
The thesis aims to detect the correlation between empathy and burnout in nurses and students enrolled in the third year of Nursing. The research is characterized by a quantitative study involving a cross sample of 413 subjects (298 nurses and 115 students). The tools used for the analysis are: a brief registry and two validated questionnaires, the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES) for empathy and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) for burnout. The survey took place in the period between December 2014 and January 2015. The results showed a moderate response rate (54% nurses, 84% students). BEES showed that most of the units has not rate high empathy. It was reported, however, a significant difference between males and females, showing most marked characters of empathy in females. It was also identified an inverse relationship between total index of empathy and age. The results obtained with the MBI instead emphasized a strong problematic concerning a special dimension of burnout, depersonalization, in which all departments, including students, have shown very high levels. Based on the overall results was found an inverse relationship between empathy and burnout in 8 departments of 18. Specifically, low levels of empathy are correlated at medium / high burnout. It is recommended the development of new research in this field and the possibility of the introduction of tools that can increase the levels of empathy to prevent burnout or psycho-attitudinal questionnaires to be administered in working assumption to place the professional in the most suitable on the basis of its personality characteristics