Assessment of Nurses’ Knowledge of Ethical Principles and their Application to Practice in a Selected Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Nigeria

Abstract:

This is a descriptive design survey on assessment of nurses’ knowledge of ethical principles and their application to practice in the Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. The purpose of the study was to determine the nurses’ knowledge of ethical principles and how the principles are applied to the care of people with mental illness. The study also identified some perceived factors that do hinder the application of ethical principles to practice. The findings revealed that the nurses have high knowledge of ethical principles. On application to practice, it was revealed that the respondents do embrace ethical principles in the care of their patients except in the area of admitting and restraining of patient against their will. Poor communication among nurses, Institutional policies, poor security patient’s abscondence and aggressiveness, amongst others were identified as perceived factors that can hinder application of ethical principles to practice.