title: Empathy: the importance of recognizing two types.
abstract: 1. Empathy has been a consistent topic in nursing literature. Although authors attest to the importance of empathy for quality nursing care, an understanding of empathy and its role in the nurse-patient relationship remains elusive. 2. The study of empathy in nursing has been hampered by a lack of theoretical and methodological clarity, a factor that has contributed to the inexplicable findings in empathy studies. 3. The recognition of two distinct types--basic empathy, a human developmental trait, and trained empathy, a clinical skill state--is set forth as a possible solution to methodological problems.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 37996-4110.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Alligood
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations