Empathic approach to reducing the negative attitudes of nursing undergraduate students towards cancer

In cases where even professional nurses have difficulty in giving care to cancer patients, student nurses may not be able to provide adequate care and sometimes develop a negative behavior or attitude towards this patient group.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between the attitudes of nursing undergraduate students towards cancer and the empathic approach.

The study was carried out using the cross-sectional research design.

A university located in the southeast of Turkey between November-December 2020.

Nursing students from one Turkey nursing school.

The research data were collected using the Personal Information Form, Questionnaire for Measuring Attitudes towards Cancer (Cancer Stigma) (QMAC) - Community Version, and Jefferson's Empathy Scale for Nursing Students (JESNS).

240 students volunteered to participate in the study, and the rate of the students' response to the questionnaires was 52%. Of all the nursing students, 66.2% of them were female; 45.4% had a moderate perception of their economic status; 94.2% had no chronic disease; 90.4% had no family history regarding cancer; 67.9% had never been in an oncology clinic, and 59.2 of them had received training on empathy. When nursing students' attitudes towards cancer were examined, it was seen that empathic approach (β = -0.291; p < .01) and chronic disease treatment received (β = 0.174; p = .005) were found to be significant predictors.

The results revealed that the nursing undergraduate students' negative perception of cancer decreased as their empathic skills increased. In addition, the students' receiving treatment for chronic diseases increased their negative perception of cancer. In order to reduce the negative attitudes of nursing students towards cancer, more trainings, lectures and seminars or clinical skills training regarding the development of empathic skills could be included in the undergraduate nursing curriculum.