Investigation of the Relationship between Empathy and Burnout Levels of Nursing Students

Aim: This research was designed to determine the relationship between empathy and burnout levels of nursing students. Method: The population of this descriptive and cross-sectional research consisted of 1294 students studying at a Nursing Faculty in the 2016-2017 academic year and the sampling consisted of 290 nursing students who were selected by the stratified random sampling method. Data were collected using the "Structured Question Form", the "Empathic Skill Scale B-Form" and the "Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Form". Written permission and ethical approval were obtained from the faculty where the research would be conducted. Data analysis was performed using the descriptive and significance analysis in the SPSS 21.00 program. Results: 84.1% of the students were female, and the average age was 20.28 +/- 1.47. It was determined that the mean score of the Empathic Skill Scale B-Form was 143.86 +/- 23.93, and that the mean scores of the sub-dimensions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Form were 15.11 +/- 4,69 in burnout, 9.34 +/- 3.62 in depersonalization, and 12.78 +/- 2.67 in competency. There is a statistically significant relationship between the Empathic Skill Scale score of nursing students and the Depersonalization sub-dimension score of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (p<0.05). Conclusion: It was determined that the burnout and empathy skills of nursing students were at a moderate level and that some socio-demographic characteristics affected their empathy and burnout levels.