Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of empathy scale in nurses

BACKGROUND: The empathetic ability of nurses is a crucial prerequisite for effective nursing practice and serves as the foundation for a harmonious relationship between nurses and patients. This ability is closely linked to the quality of nursing care, patient health outcomes, and the physical and mental well-being of nurses themselves. Despite its importance, China currently lacks an effective tool for assessing nurses’ empathy. Therefore, this study aims to translate the empathy scale for nurses into Chinese and to validate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of this scale. METHODS: Using a convenience sampling method, a total of 486 clinical nurses were recruited from four hospitals across four provinces in China. This study employed Brislin’s forward translation, reverse translation, and cross-cultural adaptation methods to translate the scale. Internal consistency, half-reliability, and test-retest reliability were utilized to assess the reliability of the Chinese version of the scale. The validity of the scale was evaluated through both content validity and construct validity. RESULTS: The Chinese version of the empathy scale in nurses consists of 16 items in three dimensions, and the Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.942. The Cronbach’s α coefficient values of the three dimensions of affective empathy, cognitive empathy and behavioral empathy range from 0.851 to 0.943. The split-half reliability and test-retest reliability values were 0.912 and 0.826 respectively. The content validity index of this scale was 0.937. The three-factor structure supported by eigenvalues, total variance of explanations, and lithotripter plots accounted for 75.092% of the total variance. Furthermore, the results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the goodness-of-fit index of the model was good. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese version of the empathy scale for nurses has been successfully introduced to China, demonstrating robust psychometric characteristics and serving as an effective tool for evaluating nurses’ empathy. Furthermore, this scale can provide a crucial foundation for nursing managers and educators to develop targeted strategies. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.