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Exploring empathy revitalization in nursing education: A game-based study
Chueh-Fen Lu1, Chizimuzo T C Okoli2, Ching-Chuan Tung3
1Department of Nursing, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology & Associate Researcher at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taiwan.
Nurse Education Today
|July 24, 2026
Summary
A new board game helps nurses sustain empathy by facilitating emotional expression and reflection. This game-based approach supports nurses in challenging clinical settings, addressing compassion fatigue and promoting well-being.
Area of Science:
- Nursing Education
- Healthcare Professional Development
- Qualitative Research Methods
Background:
- Empathy is crucial in nursing but challenging to sustain in demanding clinical settings.
- A novel game-based intervention was developed to aid emotional expression and reflection.
- This intervention aims to address pedagogical challenges in maintaining empathic engagement.
Purpose of the Study:
- Evaluate an empathy-focused board game as a pedagogical strategy.
- Explore participants' meaning-making during scenario-based play.
- Examine the game's value for clinical practice and its implications for nursing education.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study utilizing interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).
- Recruited 82 registered nurses from five hospitals in Taiwan.
- Analyzed audio-recorded dialogue and written reflections from learning sessions.
Main Results:
- Identified the Empathy Competence Cycle in Nursing (depletion and revitalization phases).
- Depletion themes: compassion fatigue, medical hierarchy influence, and role expectation burdens.
- Revitalization processes: emotional expression, reflection, and empathic re-engagement.
Conclusions:
- Empathy is a fluctuating, context-dependent relational capacity.
- The board game served as a non-evaluative space for emotional articulation and peer reflection.
- Game-based learning can support nurses' empathic practice and well-being in challenging contexts.
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