Determination of empathy and emotional labor levels of emergency physicians

Authors

  • Derya Can Dr. Derya Can Clinic, Ankara, Türkiye
  • Nukhet Bayer Lokman Hekim University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, Ankara,Türkiye

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8041841

Keywords:

Emergency service, physician, emotional labor, empathy

Abstract

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to determine the empathy and emotional labor levels of emergency physicians and to investigate the relationship between these two variables.

Materials-Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 143 physicians working in the emergency departments of training and research hospitals. Jefferson Physician Empathy Scale (JPES) and Emotional Labor Scale (ELS) were used in the study. Analysis of the research data was done with SPSS.

Results: In the study, it was found that 74.8% of the participants were male (n=107), 60.8% were general practitioners or assistant physicians (n=87), 71.4% were married (n=102), 41.3% (n=59) the income of them was more than their expenses. Physicians' empathy levels were found to be overall (70.5±12.5) for JPES, for replacement (36.6±5.2), and for emotional approach (33.9±7.8).  Emotional labor level scores were for ELS in general (33.6±4.4), for surface acting (12.6±5.1), for deep acting (10.4±4.4), for natural feelings ( 10.6±3.8) was found.

Conclusion: In our study, the empathy level of the emergency physicians was above the average, and the emotional labor level was below the average. Surface acting sub-dimension was low, deep acting and natural feelings sub-dimensions were high. It has been found that female doctors have more empathy than male doctors, and married people have more empathy than singles. While there were positive and statistically significant relationships between JPES and its sub-dimensions in general ELS, deep acting, and natural emotions sub-dimensions, there were weak and statistically significant relationships in the opposite direction with surface acting sub-dimension (p<0.01).

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Published

2023-06-20

How to Cite

Can, D., & Bayer, N. (2023). Determination of empathy and emotional labor levels of emergency physicians. Journal of Social and Analytical Health, 3(2), 142–146. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8041841

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