2026 Theses Doctoral

Effect of Communication Videos on Empathy, Weight Bias, and Self-efficacy in Communication Skills in Baccalaureate Nursing Students

Posesorski, Rachel

There is a strong need for undergraduate nursing students to learn skills that adequately prepare them to work effectively with individuals living with type 2 diabetes across all age groups. Nursing students will encounter this growing population in all health care contexts, ranging from the community to acute care settings. The communication that occurs between a nurse and patient is essential in shaping how a person feels about and manages a chronic disease, such as type 2 diabetes. Nurse educators need efficient and accessible teaching strategies, such as videos, to help nursing students identify and work on empathy, weight bias, and self-efficacy in communication skills throughout their undergraduate nursing degree.

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of viewing a positive versus negative communication style video on empathy, weight bias, and self-efficacy in communication skills in baccalaureate nursing students.A non-equivalent, quasi-experimental, single-site, two-group, pretest-posttest comparison group design was used. A convenience sample of 29 baccalaureate nursing students from an undergraduate nursing program located in Southwestern Ontario in Canada was used. Students were in their first, second, or third year of the nursing program.

The negative communication video group watched a prerecorded video of a negative communication encounter between a nurse clinician and an individual with type 2 diabetes and the positive communication video group watched a positive communication encounter between the same two individuals. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy Health Professions Student, Antifat Attitudes Questionnaire, and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire were used prior to and after viewing the videos. A six-item researcher-developed demographic survey was completed by study participants. The results revealed a statistically significant interaction between the type of communication video and time on empathy, whereby the type of communication video shown to nursing students can influence changes in empathy over time.

Examination of the posthoc simple main effects revealed a statistically significant increase in empathy in the negative communication video group, and a nonsignificant decrease in empathy in the positive communication video group. Type of communication video had no impact on weight bias or self-efficacy in communication skills. These findings provide insight into the use of a negative communication encounter video as an inexpensive and accessible teaching approach that could increase empathy in undergraduate nursing students. Future research is needed to replicate this study using a larger sample, and a comparison of various teaching strategies, including a discussion, to further understand the impact of videos on empathy, weight bias, and self-efficacy in communication skills in baccalaureate nursing students.