Is empathy associated with lower burnout among nursing professionals? Evidence from a Greek general hospital
TL;DR
Overall, healthcare-specific empathy showed a more consistent pattern of associations across burnout dimensions than broader dispositional empathy, suggesting that relational and reflective competencies merit further investigation within broader strategies to support staff wellbeing and quality improvement.
Abstract
Empathic engagement is central to high-quality care, yet healthcare professionals often work under emotional and organisational pressures that may reduce their psychological availability to patients. This exploratory cross-sectional study examined associations between empathy and burnout among 115 nursing professionals working in a single regional general hospital in Greece. Participants completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire assessing sociodemographic and work-related characteristics, healthcare-specific and dispositional empathy, and multiple dimensions of burnout. Internal consistency across the study measures ranged from acceptable to excellent (Cronbach’s α = 0.71–0.91). Pearson correlations and exploratory multiple linear regression analyses were conducted. Higher empathy scores, particularly on the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, were associated with lower emotional exhaustion, lower depersonalisation, lower client/patient-related burnout, and higher personal accomplishment. Both empathy measures were negatively associated with client/patient-related burnout, suggesting that empathy may be particularly relevant to the relational aspects of professional exhaustion. Participation in Balint-type reflective groups was also associated with lower emotional exhaustion and client/patient-related burnout; however, this finding was based on only six participants and should be considered preliminary. Overall, healthcare-specific empathy showed a more consistent pattern of associations across burnout dimensions than broader dispositional empathy. Given the cross-sectional, single-site design, modest sample size, self-report measures, and exploratory use of stepwise regression, the results should be interpreted as sample-specific associations rather than causal effects. Nevertheless, they suggest that relational and reflective competencies merit further investigation within broader strategies to support staff wellbeing and quality improvement.