A Prospective Study on the Development Trajectory of Clinical Empathy in Nursing Interns and Its Influencing Factors

Abstract

Clinical empathy is crucial for building nursing professional competence, yet its developmental dynamics and mechanisms during the internship stage remain unclear. Existing cross-sectional studies struggle to reveal its evolution trajectory and heterogeneity. This study proposes a prospective longitudinal design aimed at systematically delineating the developmental pathways of clinical empathy in nursing interns and analyzing its multi-level influencing factors. By establishing a multi-center cohort and collecting data at multiple time points, the research will employ latent growth mixture modeling to identify differentiated subgroup development trajectories. Furthermore, it will integrate multi-level models to explain the predictive factors and mechanisms underlying trajectory differentiation from systematic perspectives, including individual cognitive-emotional regulation, clinical context interactions, and critical event reflection. This study is expected to move beyond static descriptions, providing an empirical foundation for understanding the dynamic formation process of this professional competence and for developing developmentally sensitive interventions.