Nurses’ knowledge of legal aspects of nursing practice in Ibadan, Nigeria

dc.creator	Modupe O. Oyetunde
dc.creator	Bola. A. Ofi
dc.date	2013-02-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-08-12T11:16:57Z
dc.date.available	2015-08-12T11:16:57Z
dc.identifier	10.5430/jnep.v3n9p75
dc.identifier	1925-4040
dc.identifier	1925-4059
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/a1d19f6769aa4883a27ed011903a76f2
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/25985
dc.description	<p class="a">Knowledge of law that establishes a profession is essential for the professional. Nurses practice within an environment in which accountability is demanded by the professional body as well as the communities they serve. This implies that the very nature of nursing practice requires nurses to be vigilant about understanding of the law. However, there is paucity of empirical evidence of nurses’ knowledge of legal aspects of nursing. This paper presents a report of a survey of nurses’ knowledge of legal aspects of nursing in Nigeria.</p> <p class="a">The descriptive study utilized a 39-item questionnaire developed by the researchers to gather information from 161 nurses from different categories of hospitals in Ibadan. A simple random technique was used in selecting respondents in each ward of the settings. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.</p> <p class="a">The sample consisted of 20 males (12.4%) and 141 females (87.6%) with varying years of experience. Nurses have knowledge of general law of the land (58.4%) but the majority had knowledge deficits of laws governing nursing practice (77.6%). About 57 %( 91) of nurses indicated that their hospitals have institutional policies that govern how nurses practice but only 50% knew the content and intent of the policies.</p> The hallmark of professionalism is accountability. The best way to practice nursing effectively is being highly knowledgeable about the science and art of nursing coupled with sound knowledge of the laws that establish; control and promote nursing practice. It is therefore recommended that the stake holders in nursing be more involved in ensuring adequate knowledge of legal aspects of nursing practice to achieve the Nursing goal of quality care.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	Sciedu Press
dc.relation	http://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/jnep/article/view/1222
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1925-4040
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1925-4059
dc.source	Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, Vol 3, Iss 9 (2013)
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	Nurses’ knowledge of legal aspects of nursing practice in Ibadan, Nigeria
dc.type	article