Abstract
This study attempted to elucidate factors contributing to nursing staff 's understanding of their liability in nursing practice and to determine the strength of the relation between these factors. From four general hospitals in the Tokyo Metropolitan area, 1361 nursing staff were surveyed using a self-reporting questionnaire composed of four sections: items concerning nurses' judgment of the degree of their liability in previous medical accidents; the "Scale of Nurses' Understanding of their Own Liability"; the scale of professional autonomy in nursing; and items regarding the supposed factors contributing to nurses' understanding of their liability". Multiple regression analyses based on these newly assumed relations between nurses' understanding of their liability and the related factors showed that understanding was directly related to, for example, professional autonomy, Locus of Control, frequency of section meetings to discuss the prevention of medical accidents, opportunity to learn about medical regulations and liability, and nursing educational background. Therefore, to promote further understanding of liability among nurses, the author suggests that they be offered sufficient opportunity to learn about medical accidents, liability, laws and regulations in and outside the clinical setting and that nursing students be instructed to show assertion and initiative within the nurse-doctor relationship.
