Empathy Training and Its Effect on Maternity Nurses' Communication Skills

Empathy Training: Its Effect on Maternity Nurses' Communication and Parturient Women's Perception of Empathetic Care

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of empathy skills training on Maternity Nurses' Communication and Parturient Women's Perception of Empathetic Care.

The main questions it aims to answer are;

• Do maternity nurses who received empathy skills training have better empathetic communication skills when caring with parturient women than those who don't.?
• Do parturient women who received care from maternity nurses trained with empathy skills training perceive higher empathy level than mothers who received care from untrained nurses?

Participants will:

• Have 3 educational training sessions on empathy communication skills.
• Will be followed by the researcher for any clarifications about the educational content of session
• nurses will be asked to evaluate their empathy communication skills twice (once before training and second time after training) .

also parturient women will be asked to assess their maternity nurses' empathy care level twice (once before training and second time after training).

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Patient Satisfaction; Communication Skills
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Maternity Nurse Empathy and Communication Skills Training Program

Detailed Description

Empathy is one of the elements that influence compassionate skills which required for building a meaningful relationship between maternity nurse and the patient requires. Empathy is particularly important to maternity nurse and allows them to understand things from a woman's angle. Indeed, nurses with high-empathy are able to comprehend the feelings of women, which are very beneficial, particularly during some stages of childbirth when women may not want to talk or in situations where verbal communication is not possible. However, providing effective and empathic communication between maternity nurse and mothers increases satisfaction and control over delivery and reduces blood pressure, anxiety, pain, and fear of childbirth.

This study used a quasi-experimental (one group pre/posttest) . it will be conducted at three health settings at Mansoura city, Egypt and will involve 45 maternity nurses and 120 parturient women. Maternity nurses will be trained on empathic communication skills.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 45
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Nadia Y AbdElla, Assis. prof; Phone Number: 50 2733200; Email: drnadiaabdella@gmail.com

Study Locations

• Egypt
  • Dakahlia Governorate
    • Al Mansurah, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt
      • Mansoura University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Be currently employed in a maternity care setting Labor & Delivery Unit.
• Have direct patient contact with parturient women as a primary part of their regular duties.
• Have a minimum of 6 months of experience.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Nurses whose primary role is administrative, managerial without direct patient care responsibilities.
• Have previously participated in a pilot or feasibility study for the same or a highly similar intervention.
• Planned absence (e.g., extended leave, vacation) for a significant portion of the study intervention or data collection period.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Empathy and Communication Skills Training Arm; This arm consists of all enrolled study participants, who are qualified maternity nurses working in the labor and delivery unit at Mansoura University Hospitals .	Other: Maternity Nurse Empathy and Communication Skills Training Program; All participants in this single arm will receive the structured MNECS Training Program. This is a multi-session, interactive workshop designed to enhance empathy and patient-centered communication.; Other Names: MNECS Training Program

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Maternity Nurses' Empathy and Communication skills	Empathy level among maternity nurses, measured using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). The total score ranges from 0 to 64, with a higher score indicating greater empathy.	one week after ending sessions of training

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Parturient Women Perception of Maternity Nurses' Empathic Care	Parturient women's perception of nurses' empathic care, measured using the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure. The total score ranges from 10 to 50, with a higher score indicating better perceived empathy.	one week after ending sessions of training

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Mansoura University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Nadia Y AbdElla, Assis. prof, Mansoura University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): December 15, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 18, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 18, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): November 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 18, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Maternity nurses; empathetic communication skills; women perception; Parturient women
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior; Patient Satisfaction
• Other Study ID Numbers: 0593

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: The reason for not sharing data is to comply with and protect the confidentiality of participants, which is a primary ethical requirement in research.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No