Evaluation of Nurse Empathy Perceived by the Standardized Patient in Simulation: A French Validation of the Jefferson Scale of Patient Perceptions of Physician Empathy.

Purpose: The aim is to validate a French version of the Jefferson Scale of Patient Perceptions of Physician Empathy (F-JSPPPE).

Methods: Twenty-six intensive care nurses took part in a standardized clinical simulation (SCS). For each nurse, a standardized simulated patient completed the F-JSPPPE and three observers filled the French version of the Reynolds Empathy Scale (F-RES).

Results: The expert committee concluded that the F-JSPPPE has a good content validity. The internal consistency was good. A positive correlation was observed between the F-JSPPPE and the F-RES, suggesting good convergent validity.

Conclusions: The F-JSPPPE validated with a standardized patient in SCS is the first reliable and valid instrument available in French to measure patient's perception of intensive care unit (ICU) nurse's empathy. Future study is needed to evaluate test-retest reliability.