Relationship between self-consciousness and empathy for cancer patients among nursing students: The moderating effects of clinical practice satisfaction

Background: Patients with cancer experience physical and mental difficulties that can be relieved with the support and empathy of healthcare professionals. Empathy can be affected by self-consciousness. The clinical performance and interpersonal competence of nursing students are related to their satisfaction with clinical practice.Objective: This study explored the moderating effect of clinical practice satisfaction of nursing students on the relationship between self-consciousness and empathy for patients with cancer. Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting: Three colleges of nursing in South Korea.Participants: A total of 136 senior nursing students across three universities.Methods: The participants completed an online questionnaire on demographic and education-related character-istics, self-consciousness, and empathy competency. We used the Korean versions of the Self-Consciousness Scale and Empathy Construct Rating Scale. The overall response rate was 42.5 %. SPSS PROCESS macro was used to test the moderating role of satisfaction with clinical practice.Results: Private self-consciousness was significantly associated with clinical practice satisfaction and empathy. The relationship between practice satisfaction and empathy was significantly positive. In addition, the satis-faction of the nursing students with clinical practice moderated the association between private self-consciousness and empathy for patients with cancer. Empathy was more affected by private self-consciousness among senior nursing students who were less satisfied with clinical practice than among those who were more satisfied with clinical practice.Conclusion: To improve empathy for patients with cancer, educational strategies must be created to improve the private self-consciousness and satisfaction with the clinical practice of nursing students.

Automated summary

This study explored the moderating effect of clinical practice satisfaction of nursing students on the relationship between self-consciousness and empathy for patients with cancer. The results showed that clinical practice satisfaction had a significant impact on both self-consciousness and empathy, and it also moderated the relationship between self-consciousness and empathy for cancer patients.