Empathic Tendency and Empathic Skill Levels of Midwifery Students

Aim: In the midwifery profession, one of the professions which interpersonal relationships are intense, it is important that midwifery students might acquire the skills of empathy during education. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the empathic tendencies and empathic skills of midwifery students Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which was composed of 358 students being educated in the Department of Midwifery at Health High School. Total of 256 students was voluntarily participated in the study. Data were collected by Questionnaire Form, Emphatic Tendency Scale and Emphatic Skill Scale-B Form. Data coding process was completed with 148 students who filled completely and flawless the forms. The percentages, mean, t test and one way anova test were used for analysis of the results. Results: It was determined that the average score of the empathic tendency of the students was 70.56±8.29, the average score of the empathic skills was 141.01±21.03. There is no statistical difference for empathic tendency between 1th, 2th, 3th and 4th grade midwifery students (p>0.05). The difference has been determined for empathic skills between students’ grades; it is determined that 2th grade students had statistically higher empathic skill (p<0.05). Conclusion: In our study, the level of empathic tendencies and empathic skills of the midwifery students were medium, and both of the scale scores are increased by the increasing education year