title: Empathy and burnout: an analytic cross-sectional study among nurses and nursing students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Empathy is an essential element of good nursing care associated with increased patient satisfaction. Burnout represents chronic occupational stress which diminishes interest in work and reduces patient safety and satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between empathy and burnout in nursing students and nurses.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional research was conducted in a sample of 298 nurses and 115 nursing students. Socio-demographic and career information was collected. Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) were administered. Data were statistically analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  63% of our sample answered questionnaires (54% of nurses and 84% of students). The BEES global mean score was slightly inferior to empathy cut-off of 32. In the student group, two BEES dimension scores were statistically significantly higher than nurses (p=0.011 and p=0.007 respectively, t-test). Empathy was negatively related to age (p=0.001, ANOVA). Emotional exhaustion (EE) scores of MBI reported statistically significantly lower levels for students (p<0.0001, t-test). EE was negatively related to BEES mean total score in students (r=-0.307, p<0.002) and nurses (r=-0.245, p<0.002), personal accomplishment of MBI presented positive correlation with BEES mean total scores in students (r=0.319, p<0.002) and nurses (r=0.266, p<0.001, Pearson's correlation). Female students showed superior empathy capacity in comparison to male students in all 5 dimensions of BEES (p<0.001), whereas females nurses in only one dimension (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest empathy declines with age and career. High levels of empathy can be protective against burnout development, which, when presents, reduces empathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic, Clinical and Public Health Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy. paola.ferri@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferri
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marcheselli
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cunico
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Lorenzo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004506:Education, Nursing; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009729:Nursing; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult