Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 11, 2025

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
An Intervention to Increase Nursing Students' Empathy Levels for People With Disabilities
1Endicott College, Cummings School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Beverly, Massachusetts.
Background:
People with disabilities (PWD) experience significant health disparities. With more than a quarter of adults in the United States having a disability, it is imperative nursing students gain skills in addressing and preventing these disparities. There is evidence that low levels of empathy among health professionals contributes to these disparities.
Method:
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of role-play simulation and group interactivities on nursing students' empathy levels toward PWD. A mixed model analysis of variance (ANOVA) design was used to examine differences in empathy scores as measured by the Revised Kiersma-Chen Empathy Scale between groups and over time.
Results:
Data analysis demonstrated a significant improvement in composite empathy scores from pretest to posttest in the intervention group participants who received the role-play simulation and group interactivities.
Conclusion:
This study supports the use of role-play simulation in teaching nursing students' content on caring for PWD.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Empathy
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Ethical Issues
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:
Nursing Ethical Principles II
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's...
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching II: Planning and Implementation
Community Based Intervention
Foundations of Community Mental Health Programs
Central to the success of community-based interventions is the...

