Structure of Support Provided by Novice and Experienced Psychiatric Nurses and Their Thoughts in Situations Where It Is Difficult to Show Empathy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the structure of support provided by novice and experienced psychiatric nurses and their thoughts in situations where it is difficult to show empathy. Through semi-structured interviews with 8 psychiatric nurses and data analysis using the modified grounded theory approach, 1 core category, 5 categories, and 12 concepts were identified. Novice nurses placed importance on [engagement only here and now] based on the idea of [self-defense to avoid overburdening oneself]. In contrast, experienced nurses did not stay with [engagement only here and now], realizing the [difficulty and limitation of showing empathy], but adopted a <<perspective-taking approach>> to provide [support defined through inference] and [support that provides a sense of security through dialogue], with <trying to put oneself in patients’ shoes> as the foundation. The results revealed that in situations where it was difficult to show empathy, novice nurses provided one-sided support, whereas experienced nurses supported patients, adopting a multifaceted, interactive, and perspective-taking approach.