Perceptions of Acute Care Nurses in THE USE OF RESTRAINTS

Abstract

1. Staff nurses continue to use physical restraints in well-intended efforts to protect patients from potential harm despite the overwhelming evidence of negative consequences from this practice. The use of physical restraints remains an unresolved clinical practice issue. 2. This stratified, random sample demonstrated that LPNs consistently attached greater importance to the use of restraints than either RNs or Managers, suggesting that the educational level of nurses may have an impact on the continued use of physical restraints. 3. The survey further demonstrates that nurses are aware of many alternatives to restraint use. The authors suggest that alternatives may not be widely used because the measures are often not considered practical.

Perceptions regarding the use of physical restraints with elderly persons: comparison of Israeli health care nurses and social workers

“…Similar ndings were reported by other studies using nurses (Helmuth, 1995;Karlsson et al, 1998;Sundel et al, 1994;Thomas et al, 1995). Our ndings also showed that for social workers, who are not involved directly in the daily care of the elderly patients and in the decisions to restrain, issues of safety and appropriate treatment were of utmost importance.…”

“…Similar to other studies based on nurses (Helmuth, 1995;Thomas et al, 1995), the least important reason for using restraints reported by both nurses and social workers was preventing an older person from bothering others. This reason may, according to the participants' perceptions, be less related to the well-being of elderly persons and to liability issues than other reasons (Helmuth, 1995).…”

“…The items represented the most commonly cited reasons for the use of physical restraints. The PRUQ has been extensively used in the USA in studies assessing perceptions of staff members regarding the use of physical restraints (Bradley et al, 1995;Cruz et al, 1997;Thomas et al, 1995;Werner et al, 1993). The Hebrew version of the PRUQ, similar in meaning and content to the English instrument, was prepared by the accepted procedure of translation rst into Hebrew and then back into English.…”

“…Collaboration among different professionals has been indicated as one of the main components for the success of reducing the use of physical restraints with elderly persons (Sullivan-Marx, 1996). Despite these ndings, studies assessing staff members' perceptions about the use of physical restraints have concentrated almost exclusively on nursing staff members (Hennessy et al, 1997;Matthiesen et al, 1996;Schott-Baer et al, 1995;Sullivan-Marx, 1996;Thomas et al, 1995). Social workers' perceptions and their role in the decision-making process regarding the use of restraints have been totally neglected.…”

Physical restraint use in a Korean ICU

“…, 1990; Scherer et al. , 1993; Thomas et al. , 1995; Molassiotis & Newell, 1996) have reported lack of manpower as a common reason for restraint use.…”