Knowledge regarding ethical and legal issues in nursing among staff nurses - A cross-sectional survey

Hebsiba P; Deepa M

Volume : IV, Issue : XII, December - 2015

Knowledge regarding ethical and legal issues in nursing among staff nurses - A cross-sectional survey

Hebsiba P, Deepa M

Abstract :

Nurses deal with the most fundamental human events like birth, death and suffering, they encounter many legal issues surrounding these sensitive areas. �A study on knowledge regarding ethical and legal issues nursing among staff nurses�. The objectives of the study were to; (i)assess the level of knowledge of staff nurses regarding ethical and legal issues in nursing. (ii)determine the association between knowledge regarding ethical and legal issues and selected variables. The researcher used a quantitative approach and non experimental descriptive design. Ninety staff nurses were selected using simple random sampling. The data was collected by using structured knowledge questionnaire. The major findings of the study were: (i)the data showed that majority of staff nurses i.e. 48.9% (n=90) were belongs to 20-25 yrs of age, 87.8% were females, 65.6% were acquired BSc nursing, 60% had <3 year experience and 38.9% has experienced in general ward. (ii) The level of knowledge of staff nurses regarding ethical and legal issues in nursing showed that majority 41 (45.6%) had above average knowledge, whereas 27 (30.0%) had below average knowledge. (iii)Chi-Square test showed that there is no significant association between knowledge level of staff nurses and the demographic variables.