Although empathy is an integral component of professional practice and person-centred care, a body of research has identified that vulnerable patients groups frequently experience healthcare that is less than optimal and often lacking in empathy.
The aim of this study was to examine the impact of an immersive point-of-view simulation on nursing students' empathy towards people with an Acquired Brain Injury.
A convenience sample of 390 nursing students from a cohort of 488 participated in the study, giving a response rate of 80%. Students undertook the simulation in pairs and were randomly allocated to the role of either a person with Acquired Brain Injury or a rehabilitation nurse. The simulated 'patients' wore a hemiparesis suit that replicated the experience of dysphasia, hemianopia and hemiparesis.
Characteristics of the sample were summarised using descriptive statistics. A two-group pre-test post-test design was used to investigate the impact of the simulation using the Comprehensive State Empathy Scale. t-Tests were performed to analyse changes in empathy pre post and between simulated 'patients' and 'rehabilitation nurses'.
On average, participants reported significantly higher mean empathy scores post simulation (3.75, SD=0.66) compared to pre simulation (3.38 SD=0.61); t (398)=10.33, p<0.001. However, this increase was higher for participants who assumed the role of a 'rehabilitation nurse' (mean=3.86, SD=0.62) than for those who took on the 'patient' role (mean=3.64, SD=0.68), p<0.001.
The results from this study attest to the potential of point-of-view simulations to positively impact nursing students' empathy towards people with a disability. Research with other vulnerable patient groups, student cohorts and in other contexts would be beneficial in taking this work forward.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 22. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 22 February 2020.
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Altmetric has tracked 29,820,216 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 93rd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,762 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.1. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 91% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 48 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 66% of its contemporaries.
