Knowledge of Staff Nurses Regarding Legal Aspects of Patient Care

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.