The effect of nurses' levels of ethical sensitivity and empathic tendency on patient advocacy roles

This descriptive and correlational study aimed to examine the impact of nurses ethical sensitivities and empathic inclinations on the role of patient advocacy. This study study was conducted between 20/08/2021 and 31/03/2023 at Ondokuz Mayıs University Health Application and Research Centre Hospital. We used a nested mixed design, where quantitative and qualitative research methods were used together. The quantitative research sample consisted of 417 nurses and the qualitative research sample consisted of 17 nurses. Quantitative data were collected using the Nurse Description Questionnaire, Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire, Jefferson Empathy Scale and Patient Advocacy Scale for Nurses; qualitative data were collected using a semi-structured interview form. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) were used to present the qualitative research data. IBM SPSS V23.0 software was used to analyze the quantitative data and MAXQDA 22 software was used to analyze the qualitative data. We concluded that nurses' ethical sensitivity is an important predictor of their competence in patient advocacy. Keywords: Nurse, Ethical sensitivity, Empathic tendency, Patient advocacy role