title: Psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Profession Students.
abstract: Empathy is central to a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship. Valid and reliable Chinese instruments to assess nursing students' empathy are lacking. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Profession Students (C-JSE-HPS) among Taiwanese undergraduate nursing students. A convenience sample of 613 Taiwanese nursing students participated in the study. Content validity, construct validity, internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability were examined. Content validity was confirmed by a content validity index of 0.89. Factor analysis yielded three components of perspective taking, compassionate care and standing in the patient's shoes, explaining 57.14% of total variance. Women scored higher on empathy than men. Also, students who were enrolled in the 4-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) indicated greater empathy degrees than those in the 2-year Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN-to-BSN). Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the test-retest reliability were 0.93 and 0.92 respectively. A C-JSE-HPS demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties to measure empathy of undergraduate nursing students. Educators may use this instrument to assess empathic qualities among students and design effective empathy-oriented nursing curricula to improve the quality of nursing care.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C-Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Hsiao
authors.forename: Y-F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Y-C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006281:Health Occupations / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult