Development of an empathic interaction skills schedule in a nursing context

This study was an attempt to develop a means of teaching and assessing empathic interaction skills in the classroom and in the clinical situation. A descriptive-analytic system of interaction observation was formulated from a theoretical standpoint, with videotape recordings of nurse-patient interactions used as an additional data base. The schedule was applied to both student and qualified nurses in a variety of clinical settings and in the classroom. The videotape recordings were used as a means of assessing the validity and reliability of the schedule. The validity was ascertained in terms of content validity and criterion-related validity. These two aspects of validity were appraised by reference to the professional judgement of experienced qualified nurses. Positive validity coefficients were obtained. The reliability was determined by estimation of inter-rater reliability and intra-rater reliability. Positive reliability coefficients were obtained. Observer objectivity was also calculated.