Development of the Clinical Interpersonal Reactivity Index to evaluate nurses' empathy

Validity and reliability evaluation of the Turkish version of the Clinical Interpersonal Reactivity Index

AIM

This study was conducted to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Clinical Interpersonal Reactivity Index, an instrument to assess nurses' empathy.

BACKGROUND

A practical empathic approach is valuable for planning nursing interventions suitable for the patient's conditions and needs and increasing patient satisfaction.

DESIGN

This is a methodological study.

METHODS

The study was carried out at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University Training and Research Hospital, recruiting a total of 358 nurses between January and February 2023. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine and validate the factor structure of the Clinical Interpersonal Reactivity Index.

RESULTS

The exploratory factor analysis extracted three factors. According to the confirmatory factor analysis, all goodness of fit measures were within acceptable limits. Cronbach's α values were 0.89 for the total scale with 17 items and between 0.73 and 0.81 for the factors. In test-retest analyses, all intra-class correlation coefficients were higher than 0.7, and the correlations between the first and second applications of the scale were between 0.61 and 0.73.

CONCLUSION

The Turkish version of the Clinical Interpersonal Reactivity Index can be applied as a valid and reliable measurement tool to evaluate empathy in Turkish nurses.

The Impact of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Workplace Well-Being and Empathy Levels Among Nurses Working in Psychiatric Wards in Iran: A Controlled Trial

Workplace stressors can negatively impact the well-being and nurse-patient empathy among nurses working in psychiatric wards. This controlled trial investigated the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on workplace well-being and empathy levels among these nurses. In this study, 80 clinical nurses from the psychiatric wards of Ibn-e-Sina psychiatric hospital, affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, completed a demographics form, the Eudaimonic Workplace Well-being Scale, and the Clinical Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Subsequently, participants were allocated to either the MBSR group (n = 40) or the control group (n = 40). The MBSR group received an eight-week program consisting of weekly two-hour sessions based on the MBSR principles developed by Kabat-Zinn. The participants in both the MBSR and control groups completed the data collection tools immediately after the intervention and one month later. The mean scores of workplace well-being and its intrapersonal dimension increased significantly more in the MBSR group than in the control group over time. Similarly, empathy and its perspective-taking subscale improved significantly more in the MBSR group than in the control group over time. The MBSR intervention can be a beneficial tool to improve workplace well-being and nurse-patient empathy levels among nurses working in psychiatric wards.