The effects of bibliotherapy on first-year nursing students’ psychological well-being and empathy

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of bibliotherapy on the psychological well-being and empathy of first-year nursing students. Methods: A quasi-experimental study with a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. Participants were recruited from a single nursing college in Korea. The sample consisted of an intervention group (n=16) that participated in the bibliotherapy program and a control group (n=16). The experimental group participated in the program for six 90-minutes sessions over a period of 6 weeks. The data were collected before and after the intervention using self-administered questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, χ2 test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality, and Mann– Whitney U-test. Results: After the application of the bibliotherapy program, the experimental group showed a significant positive difference in psychological well-being (Z= -2.18, p=.014) and empathy (Z= -1.69, p=.046) scores. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that bibliotherapy is an effective method for improving first-year nursing students’ psychological well-being and empathy. Therefore, the bibliotherapy program can be used as a nursing education strategy to improve the psychological well-being and empathy of first-year nursing students. Repeated studies to test the effects of such bibliotherapy programs should also be conducted.