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Empathy: a review of the literature with suggestions for an alternative research strategy
Author(s) -
Gould Dinah
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2648.1990.tb01709.x
Subject(s) - empathy , disenchantment , psychology , quality (philosophy) , compassion , nursing literature , simulation theory of empathy , perception , psychotherapist , nursing , social psychology , medicine , epistemology , alternative medicine , philosophy , politics , political science , law , pathology , neuroscience
Although empathy is regarded as a necessary component of good quality nursing care, defining and measuring empathy have both been fraught with problems A historical overview helps to explain these difficulties, as nurses have tended to accept the views of psychotherapists uncritically, and have used scales developed for clients in counselling with people who are physically ill Methodological difficulties combined with the results of studies demonstrating low levels of empathie ability in nurses have culminated in disenchantment with this topic A framework is used to show why nurses cannot always demonstrate empathic awareness of every patient's need and an alternative approach for exploring the nature of empathy is suggested