International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (www.ijhsr.org) 206 Vol.5; Issue: 10; October 2015 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research www.ijhsr.org ISSN: 2249-9571 Original Research Article Assess the Attitude of Staff Nurses in Providing Information to the Client Related to Legal and Ethical Rights in Psychiatric Setting in a Selected Hospital in Mangalore Aleena Augustine 1 , Angel George 1 , Angel Johns 1 , Bonitta Viona Pinto 1 , Akku Jose 1 , Mary Shilpa Jenny Jacob 1 , Chanu Bhattacharya 2 , Brincy Loyolla D’Souza 3 1 BSc Nursing, Father Muller College of Nursing, Mangalore. 2 Professor, Mental Health Nursing, Father Muller College of Nursing, Mangalore. 3 Assisstent Prof. Child Health Nursing, Father Muller College of Nursing, Mangalore. Corresponding Author: Brincy Loyolla D’Souza Received: 25/08/2015 Revised: 22/09/2015 Accepted: 30/09/2015 ABSTRACT A psychiatric nurse plays a very important role in which orientation, meeting all types of needs especially explaining rights to patient, maintaining confidentiality, taking informed consent. The present study was carried out to investigate the attitude of staff nurses in providing information to the client related to legal and ethical rights in Psychiatric setting. Objectives of the study: (i) to assess the attitude of the staff nurses in providing information to client related to legal and ethical rights; (ii) to find out the association of attitude of staff nurses in providing information to the client related to legal and ethical rights with selected demographic variables(years of experience, educational qualification, age, sex). Method: A descriptive design was used for the present study. The sample consisted of 30 staff nurses who were selected by purposive sampling technique. Tools used were baseline proforma and 5 point rating scale. Results: The data showed that: Majority of subjects (60%) were between the age group of 20–25 years (mean age=25.87 year), 70% were females, 90% were Christians, 47% had Basic B.Sc. nurses and 40% had 2- 6 months of clinical exposure in psychiatric setting. The finding showed that among the subjects 67% had unfavorable attitude and 33% had favorable attitude. The calculated p value showed that there was no association between attitude score and selected baseline variable. Conclusion: The findings of the study have shown that the attitude of staff nurses in providing information to the client related to legal and ethical rights was unfavorable. Key words: Attitude, staff nurses, information related to legal and ethical rights INTRODUCTION The primary goals of professional accountability in nursing are to maintain high standards of care and to prevent the patients from harm. Nurses should be aware of and be responsible for each action taken, be able to defend their actions and be willing to accept the consequences of their actions. The public trust in a profession increases proportionately to the degree in which the professional members guard and protect the public’s interest. Therefore it is necessary