Surgical Clinic Nurses' Empathy Levels and Attitudes Toward Patients with Disabilities: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The objective of the current study is to identify the empathy levels and attitudes of nurses who work in surgical clinics toward patients with disabilities and to investigate the correlation between these two variables. Methods: This cross-sectional, correlational-predictive study included 305 nurses working in the surgical clinics of a Training and Research Hospital affiliated with a Health Sciences University in Türkiye. The research data were collected using a Sociodemographic Information Form, the Jefferson Empathy Scale (JES), and the Disability Attitudes in Health Care Scale (DAHC) between February and April 2026. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation analysis, POMP (%) score graph, eta-squared (η²) effect size, independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis were used to evaluate the data. Results: Participants scored an average of 102.8 points on the JES and 55.4 points on the DAHC. This value falls within Jefferson's "moderately high empathy" range (88.6-105.7), and the mean attitude score was also found to increase positively. A positive, moderate, and statistically significant correlation was found between the JES and the DAHC (r = 0.520, p < 0.001). In the regression analysis, the explanatory power increased from 12.8% in Model 1 to 18.8% in Model 2 and to 35% in Model 3 (ΔR² = 0.160). Considering the relative importance order of the independent variables in the final model of the regression analysis, it is understood that the strongest predictor of empathy was the DAHC (β = 0.430), followed by professional experience (β = 0.149) and education level (β = -0.145). Conclusions: The present study found that attitude, education level, and professional experience were the main factors affecting the empathy level. A positive correlation was identified between empathy and attitude. Hence, the accessibility of patients with disabilities to intensive and stressful clinics such as surgical clinics, the organization of in-service training, and the integration of multidisciplinary teamwork can create equal opportunities in health care for patients with disabilities.