The Impact of Nurses' Empathic Approaches on Holistic Care

Objective: This study is important as it is one of the limited studies examining the relationship between nurses’ empathy levels and holistic nursing competence and evaluating the contribution of empathic approaches to the quality of nursing care and professional practice.Methods: This study was planned as descriptive and cross-sectional. The study was conducted with 239 nurses who voluntarily participated and were working in emergency, internal medicine, surgical, and intensive care units of a university hospital in Türkiye between June and December 2024. Data were obtained using the Sociodemographic Information Form, the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSENS), and the Holistic Nursing Competence Scale (HNCS). Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and backward stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were used. Results: The mean age of the nurses was 31.56±6.46 years, and 66.9% were female. The mean total JSENS score was 96.03±14.32. The mean holistic nursing competence scores were 33.96±5.95 for HNCS-A and 131.95±26.93 for HNCS-B. A low-level positive correlation was found between empathy levels and both dimensions of holistic nursing competence. Regression analysis showed that postgraduate education, age, and higher empathy scores were significant predictors of higher HNCS-A scores. For HNCS-B, postgraduate education and empathy scores were positively associated, whereas higher daily patient load and having received empathy training were associated with lower competence scores.Conclusion: It was observed that nurses’ empathy levels were associated with their holistic nursing competence. Although empathy alone does not fully explain professional competence, it contributes positively to holistic care delivery. These findings indicate that empathy should be supported through integrated educational strategies and favorable working conditions to enhance the quality and sustainability of holistic nursing care.