A Study to assess the level of Knowledge on Legal and Ethical Responsibilities among Staff nurses in the field of Mental health nursing at Chettinad hospital and research Institute, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu.

Nivethitha. A.U; Sangavi. S; Metha. J

Volume : VI, Issue : IX, September - 2017

A Study to assess the level of Knowledge on Legal and Ethical Responsibilities among Staff nurses in the field of Mental health nursing at Chettinad hospital and research Institute, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu.

Nivethitha. A. U, Sangavi. S, Metha. J

Abstract :

Nurses are bound by both ethical and legal guidelines that are part of the Nurse Practice Act, a set of laws designed to protect the public from harm and to protect the integrity of the nursing profession, the code of ethics articulates the ethical principles and values and guide all members of the psychiatry nursing profession. It sets out the framework for professional responsibility and accountability while promoting high ethical standards in practice and providing a benchmark for registered psychiatry nurses to use for self–evaluation. Therefore a descriptive study to assess the level of knowledge on legal and ethical responsibilities among staff nurses in the field of mental health nursing at Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Kelambakkam, Tamilnadu, India. Was undertaken with the objectives: 1. To assess the level of knowledge on legal and ethical responsibilities among staff nurses in the field of mental health nursing.2. To associate the level of knowledge on legal and ethical responsibilities among staff nurses in the field of mental health nursing with selected demographic variable.A non–experimental, descriptive study was conducted. The study sample consisted of total 30 staff nurses. Data was analyzed by inferential statistics and presented through tables and figures. Findings revealed that Variables like, age of staff nurse, educational qualification, years of experience, area of experience, family monthly income and area of residence were found to be non significant. The number of staff nurses having high knowledge were 13(43.33%), moderate knowledge was 8(26.66%) and low knowledge was 9(30%). Mean value( 17.23), and standard deviation (SD) (7.9020%).