This study aimed to identify the relationship between person-centered care competence, empathy, mindfulness, and difficulties in emotional regulation among undergraduate nursing students.

The subjects of this study were 220 undergraduate nursing students from three colleges in Gyeongsangnam-do. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, Independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffé test with SPSS/WIN 21.0.

The mean scores of person-centered care competence, empathy, mindfulness, and difficulties in emotional regulation were 3.82±0.51, 3.48±0.36, 4.17±0.37, 1.46±0.61, respectively. Empathy (r=.33, p< .001) and mindfulness (r=.14, p=.046) were significantly correlated with person-centered care competence.

The results indicate that variables related to person-centered care competence are empathy and mindfulness. Therefore, educational programs for increasing person-centered care competence should include strategies that can be developed to promote and sustain empathy and mindfulness among nursing students.

Horizontal violence or lateral violence among nurses is a critical social issue given its global prevalence and frequency. In this study, we examined the effects of lateral violence on nurses’ burnout and empathy with patients by examining the moderating effect of communication in each relationship.

This was a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional descriptive study, including a total of 211 registered nurses who had worked for more than six months at a medical institution in Seoul, South Korea. The data were collected between March 20, 2019 and June 1, 2019 using self-administered online surveys. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were calculated, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed. To test the moderating effect of communication, an interaction term was added to each model.

Communication negatively moderated the relationship between lateral violence and burnout. On the other hand, there was no significant moderating effect of communication on the relationship between lateral violence and empathy with patients.

From these findings, we revealed the effect of communications between lateral violence and burnout. The higher the communication ability, the less the effect of lateral violence on burnout. Our findings highlight the importance of communication when developing interventions to reduce burnout in the presence of lateral violence.