The effects of empathy and self concept on problem solving: Focusing on the mediating effect of communication of nursing students / 한국간호교육학회지

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#This study aimed to identify the effect of nursing students' empathy and self-esteem on problem-solving ability through the mediated effect of communication skills. @*Methods@#Data were collected from 179 nursing students between 1 October and 30 October, 2018 from three universities in Gyeonggi-Do. Data on subjects’ general characteristics, empathy, self-esteem, communication skills, and problem solving ability were collected using a structured self-reporting questionnaire. @*Results@#Of the total subjects, 89.9% were female. The subjects' empathy was 3.40±0.36, self-esteem was 3.16±0.56, communication skills was 3.65±0.48, and problem-solving ability was 3.52±0.42. Communication skills showed a partial mediating effect on the relationship between empathy and problem solving ability. Communication skills also showed a partial mediating effect on the relationship between self-esteem and problem solving ability. @*Conclusion@#These findings indicate that it will be more effective to develop strategies that can improve empathy, self-esteem, and communication skills together when developing programs that improve problem-solving ability.