The relationship between empathy and burnout – lessons for paramedics: a scoping review

Figures & data

Table 1 Overview of included articles

Reference	Year	Title	Location	Population	Key findings
Astrom et al^Citation6	1990	Empathy, experience of burnout, and attitudes toward demented patients among nursing staff in geriatric care	Umea, Sweden	Geriatric care nurses	Weak negative correlation between burnout and empathy
Astrom et al^Citation28	1991	Staff burnout in dementia care – relations to empathy and attitudes	Umea, Sweden	Geriatric care nurses	Burnout correlated with lower empathy scores
Baxter^Citation29	1992	Empathy: its role in nursing burnout	New Hampshire, USA	Acute care nurses	Inverse relationship between empathy and burnout
Bradham^Citation30	2008	Empathy and burnout in nurses	Illinois, USA	Bedside nurses	Negative relationship between demographics and burnout
Brazeau et al^Citation31	2010	Relationships between medical student burnout, empathy, and professionalism climate	New Jersey, USA	Fourth year medical students	Negative correlation between empathy and burnout
Duarte et al^Citation32	2016	Relationships between nurses’ empathy, self-compassion, and dimensions of professional quality of life: a cross-sectional study	Portugal	Registered nurses	Burnout negatively associated with empathetic behaviors Negative association between burnout and empathy behaviors
Ferri et al^Citation33	2015	Empathy and burnout: an analytic cross-sectional study among nurses and nursing students	Northern Italy	Nurses and nursing students	High levels of empathy protect against burnout. Burnout may reduce empathy
Fulop et al^Citation34	2011	Relationship between empathy and burnout among psychiatric residents	Hungary	Psychiatric residents	Empathy may prevent burnout
Garrett^Citation35	1999	Stress, coping, empathy, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout in health care providers working with HIV-infected individuals	New York, USA	Physicians, nurses, social workers, and support staff	Low empathy related to high levels of burnout
Glidewell^Citation36	2000	Burnout, vicarious traumatization, coping styles, and empathy in long-term care nursing personnel	Mississippi, USA	Long-term care nurses	Empathy is protective against burnout
Lamothe et al^Citation21	2014	To be or not to be empathetic: the combined role of empathic concern and perspective taking in understanding burnout in general practice	France	General practitioners	Cognitive and affective empathy together may prevent burnout
Lee et al^Citation24	2003	A comprehensive model for predicting burnout in Korean nurses	South Korea	Nurses	Cognitive empathy negatively related to burnout Negative relationship between cognitive empathy and burnout
Melnick and Powsner^Citation37	2016	Empathy in the time of burnout	USA	Physicians	Burnt out physicians find it harder to be empathetic
Miller et al^Citation38	1988	Communication and empathy as precursors to burnout among human service workers	Midwestern USA	Psychiatric hospital staff	Emotional involvement when providing care leads to burnout
Palsson et al^Citation23	1996	Burnout, empathy, and sense of coherence among Swedish district nurses before and after systematic clinical supervision	Southeast Sweden	District nurses undergoing training in care of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients	Burnout negatively correlated with empathy
Park et al^Citation39	2016	A multicenter study investigating empathy and burnout characteristics in medical residents with various specialties	South Korea	Medical residents	Empathy negatively correlated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization
Passalacqua^Citation40	2010	Running on empty: examining the effect of physician stress, burnout, and empathy on patient-centered care	Arizona, USA	Internal medicine residents	High burnout predicts greater decline in empathy levels over the course of a shift
Passalacqua and Segrin^Citation41	2012	The effect of resident physician stress, burnout, and empathy on patient-centered communication during the long-call shift	Southwestern USA	Resident physicians	Burnout significantly negatively associated with empathy levels over the course of a shift
Raiziene and Endriulaitiene^Citation42	2007	The relationship among empathy, occupational commitment, and emotional exhaustion of nurses	Regional Lithuania	Nurses	Empathy negatively correlated with emotional exhaustion
Tei et al^Citation43	2014	Can we predict burnout severity from empathy-related brain activity?	Kyoto, Japan	Nurses with <11 years of experience	Burnout severity explained by reduced empathy-related brain activity
Thirioux et al^Citation11	2016	Empathy is a protective factor of burnout in physicians: new neuro-phenomenological hypotheses regarding empathy and sympathy in care relationship	France	Physicians	Empathy is a preventative factor of burnout
Walocha et al^Citation44	2013	Empathy and burnout among physicians of different specialties	Krakow, Poland	Physicians employed in hospitals, outpatient clinics, or universities	Increasing any aspect of burnout has a negative impact on empathy
Williams^Citation45	1989	Empathy and burnout in male and female helping professionals	Southeastern USA	Registered nurses, social workers, and teachers	Empathy positively correlated with both emotional exhaustion and burnout. (Concluded that empathy positively related to burnout)
Yuguero et al^Citation46	2015	Association between sick leave prescribing practices and physician burnout and empathy	Lleida, Spain	Primary care doctors	High empathy significantly associated with low burnout
Yuguero et al^Citation47	2016	Association between low empathy and high burnout among primary care physicians and nurses in Lleida, Spain	Lleida, Spain	Primary care physicians and nurses	Burnout associated with low levels of empathy
Zenasni et al^Citation48	2012	Burnout and empathy in primary care: three hypotheses	France	Primary care physicians	Evidence to suggest that burnout decreases empathy, empathy causes burnout, and empathy prevents burnout

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GlidewellRBurnout, Vicarious Traumatization, Coping Styles, and Empathy in Long-Term Care Nursing Personnel [dissertation]Southern MississippiGraduate School2000

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WalochaETomaszewskiKWilczek-RuzyczkaEWalochaJEmpathy and burnout among physicians of different specialtiesFolia Medica Cracoviensia2013532354224858455

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