Compassionate communication levels of nursing students: Predictive role of empathic skills and nursing communication course

PURPOSE This study aims to determine the compassionate communication levels of nursing students and the predictive roles of empathic skills and nursing communication courses. DESIGN AND METHODS This descriptive study was conducted with 430 nursing students and data were analyzed using a descriptive information form, Compassionate Communication Scale (CCS), and Empathic Skill Scale (ESS). FINDINGS A positive relationship was found between the students' ESS and CCS scores (r = .23 p = 0.001). Empathic skills (β = 0.43, p = 0.001), predicted compassionate communication (β = 0.23, p = 0.001), compassionate conversation (β = 0.43, p = 0.001), and compassionate touch (β = 0.18, p = 0.001). PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Skills of compassion and empathy positively affect each other; therefore, it is important to adopt strategies that strengthen the empathic skills of nursing students during academic education and to include empathy and compassion in the curriculum.