Abstract: Objective To study the empathy ability and its influencing factors of nursing staff, so as to provide reference for improving empathy ability of nursing staff. Methods A third-level hospital and a second-level hospital among public hospitals of Lianyungang were selected by simple sampling method from July to August 2021, the empathy ability and job burnout of nursing staff in each department of the two hospitals were investigated. The data of gender, age, education, hospital level, department, professional title, contract nature, length of service, night shift frequency, and relevant training and learning experience of all nursing staff were collected. The status quo of empathy ability was descriptively analyzed, the influencing factors of empathy ability were analyzed by single factor and multiple stepwise regression analysis. Results A total of 349 nurses were collected with effective questionnaires, the total score of empathy ability was （96.75 ± 12.17）, including viewpoint selection dimension （51.23 ± 9.81）, emotional nursing dimension （32.60 ± 7.14） and transposition thinking dimension （11.05 ± 2.96）. The results of multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that age （β'=0.133）, education （β'=0.281）, department （surgery β'=0.109, internal medicine β'=0.163, obstetrics and gynecology β'=0.096, rehabilitation β'=0.456, operating room β'=0.280, other departments β'=0.263）, contract nurses （β'=-0.109）, length of service （β'=0.087）, night shift frequency （β'=-0.487）, relevant training and learning experience （β'=0.369） and job burnout （β'=0.357） were the influencing factors of empathy ability of nurses. Conclusion The empathy ability of nursing staff is affected by many factors. It is necessary to take targeted intervention measures according to different individual situations, the purpose of improving empathy ability can be achieved through relevant training and learning and reducing job burnout.

Key words: Nursing staff, Empathy ability, Job burnout, Influencing factor