THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG A PATTERN OF INFLUENCE IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT, POWER OF THE NURSE, AND THE NURSE'S EMPATHIC ATTRIBUTES: A MANIFESTATION OF INTEGRALITY.
Contributors: Case Western Reserve University.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 173
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Health Care Management.
Description: Empathy, an attribute of the personality and a behavior that enables an individual to understand the "other's" needs and meanings, is a purposeful part of the therapeutic process of nursing. The desired outcome of relating in an empathic way during the nurse-client interaction is a movement toward the client's desired health outcomes. Nurse empathy is also a consideration for the administrator who is creating the practice environment. The study of empathy and its relationship to variables within the context of person and environment was used to provide a framework for explaining and predicting the development of empathy in the nurse. The aim of this research was to describe a pattern of distinguishing characteristics of influence within the nurse's human and environmental field which promoted empathic ability. The theoretical framework used to support these relationships was the principle of integrality within Rogers' Science of Unitary Human Beings. The relationships proposed as significant were nurse empathy, the nurse's job satisfaction, influence of nursing administration on nurse satisfaction, and the capacity of the nurse to participate knowingly in change (power).

The study used a descriptive correlational design. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regression. The sample was nurses employed in health departments in the State of Washington. Five instruments were administered to the research subjects; the Hogan Empathy Scale, the Empathy Test, a likert scale which measured the influence of nursing administration on the nurse's satisfaction, the Power as Knowing Participation in Change Test, and the Index of Work Satisfaction Questionnaire. Demographic data was collected to describe the sample.

The findings supported the proposition that empathy, as an indice of the nurse's human field, is related to power, which in turn is mutually effected by indicies of influence in the environmental field. Results of the study showed significant correlations among empathy and power, power and job satisfaction, and job satisfaction and influence of nursing administration on satisfaction. Power had a significant effect on the variance associated with nurse empathy and a significant effect on the variance in job satisfaction.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-11, Section: B, page: 5244.

Thesis (PH.D.)--CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY (HEALTH SCIENCES), 1990.

School code: 0499.