Opportunities for Empathy in Undergraduate Nursing Education

Abstract: Even though empathy is a vital part of nursing practice, nursing education is not always known for providing empathetic learning and working environments. Based on a synthesis of the literature and applying critical caring pedagogy, a model for empathy in undergraduate nursing education was developed. The model includes overlapping academic and clinical learning settings. There are eight relationships in the model that are depicted by single or bidirectional arrows with the indication of power or lateral positioning. The opportunities for empathy and the link to elements of critical caring pedagogy for each of these relationships is discussed.