Extensive research indicates that individuals in helping professions such as nursing must be empathic. The purpose of this study was to design and assess the effectiveness of an empathy-training program for hospital staff nurses. The nursing staff from two medical/surgical units in a large medical center participated in the study. The experimental group of nurses (n = 20) participated in an intensive training program designed to help them become more empathic and improve their interactions with patients. The control group of nurses (n = 16) did not receive any training. Pre- and posttraining measures of emotional empathy/empathic tendency were used, and results indicated that the training program enhanced nurses' empathy in the experimental group.
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