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Knowledge of Staff Nurses Regarding Legal Aspects of Patient Care
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Aim: A descriptive study was conducted to assess the knowledge of staff nurses regarding legal aspects of patient care in a selected hospital at Ernakulam district. Background: Nursing practice in virtually all nations is governed by law. Each country may have different act but, they all have common purpose to protect the public1. Many hospitals are not willing to hire nurses without the legal knowledge now that legal issues are becoming more problematic2. In order to avoid liability and guard against negligence or malpractice suits, the nurse must be aware of the legal responsibilities of each aspect of the nursing role3. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge of staff nurses regarding legal aspects of patient care. Methods: A Descriptive analytical study was conducted among 70 staff nurses working in critical care units of a Medical College Hospital of South India during the month of December 2018.Convenience sampling technique was adopted for the study. A Structured knowledge questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge on legal aspects of patient care. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: The findings of the study revealed that that Mean knowledge score was 14.88 ± 3.43. In this study Majority (84%) of the nurses had average knowledge, 3% had good knowledge and only 13% had poor knowledge on legal aspects of patient care. Conclusion: This study identified that even though majority had average knowledge on legal aspects of patient care, only a small percentage had good knowledge on the same. The nurses need to strengthen their knowledge on legal aspects to have a firm foundation of service. It can be concluded that there is a great need to sensitize nurses on legal issues appropriately.
Keywords
Knowledge, Legal Aspects, Patient Care, Intensive Care Unit, Staff Nurses.
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