Physical Restraint of Critically Ill Patients: A Human Issue

Changing the practice of physical restraint use in acute care

Older adults are more likely to be restrained during hospital stays than are younger individuals. Use of physical restraints significantly undermines quality patient care and represents substandard care. Rather than using restraints, nursing staff should determine the source of the patient's behaviors through comprehensive assessment and try to detect patterns to move toward restraint-free care. This evidence-based practice guideline can be used to facilitate the recognition of older adults at risk for physical restraints use and the implementation of appropriate interventions to move toward restraint-free patient care. This, in turn, helps to maintain or promote older adults' quality of life.

Reporting unplanned extubation

Between 1995 and 2002 seven clinical audits were undertaken in consecutive periods over twelve months to determine the frequency and risk factors associated with reported unplanned extubation (UE) within a 22-bed general and surgical Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Nursing and medical staff provided information on the patient's age, diagnosis, mental status, precipitating causes and investigations/treatment ordered. Following the first audit, modifications were made to include anonymous reporting. Additional information was also obtained on the patient's position, sedation regimen, method of endotracheal tube (ETT) placement and the use of physical restraints. A clinical indicator was established to monitor the UE incidence based as a rate of UE per 100 patients. Audit results were between 1.06% and 4.86% with an aggregate rate from 1995 to 2002 of 2.6%. This rate compares favourably with the range of 2.8-22.5% reported in the literature. Over the survey periods, 28-60% of patients were assessed as being confused or agitated, 47-67% restrained and 53-70% sedated. The UE reported rate initially increased when anonymous reporting was introduced from 1.06% to 4.86%. Unplanned extubation incidence subsequently decreased in Surgical ICU following the introduction of clinical pathways, early weaning and nurse led extubation. Monitoring UE in ICU provides important information on the quality of care. We would recommend a system of anonymous reporting to more freely reflect incidence.

Use of Physical Restraints in Adult Critical Care: A Bicultural Study

• Background Although controversial, physical restraints are commonly used in adult critical care units in the United States to prevent treatment interference and self-inflicted harm. Use of physical restraints in Norwegian hospitals is very limited. In the United States, an experimental design for research on use of restraints has not seemed feasible. However, international research provides an opportunity to compare and contrast practices.

• Objectives To describe the relationship between patients’ characteristics, environment, and use of physical restraints in the United States and Norway.

• Methods Observations of patients and chart data were collected from 2 intensive care units (n = 50 patients) in Norway and 3 (n = 50 patients) in the United States. Sedation was measured by using the Sedation-Agitation Scale. The Nine Equivalents of Nursing Manpower Use Score was used to indicate patients’ acuity level.

• Results Restraints were in use in 39 of 100 observations in the United States and not at all in Norway (P = .001). Categories of patients were balanced. In the Norwegian sample, the median Nine Equivalents of Nursing Manpower Use Score was higher (37 vs 27 points, P < .001), patients were more sedated (P < .001), and nurse-to-patient ratios were higher (1.05:1 vs 0.65:1, P < .001). Seven incidents of unplanned device removal were reported in the US sample.

• Conclusions Critical care units with similar technology and characteristics of patients vary between nations in restraint practices, levels of sedation, and nurse-to-patient ratios. Restraint-free care was, in this sample, safe in terms of treatment interference.

Clinical practice guidelines for the maintenance of patient physical safety in the intensive care unit: use of restraining therapies--American College of Critical Care Medicine Task Force 2001-2002

OBJECTIVE

To develop clinical practice guidelines for the use of restraining therapies to maintain physical and psychological safety of adult and pediatric patients in the intensive care unit.

PARTICIPANTS

A multidisciplinary, multispecialty task force of experts in critical care practice was convened from the membership of the American College of Critical Care Medicine (ACCM), the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN).

EVIDENCE

The task force members reviewed the published literature (MEDLINE articles, textbooks, etc.) and provided expert opinion from which consensus was derived. Relevant published articles were reviewed individually for validity using the Cochrane methodology (http://hiru.mcmaster.ca/cochrane/ or www.cochrane.org).

CONSENSUS PROCESS

The task force met as a group and by teleconference to identify the pertinent literature and derive consensus recommendations. Consideration was given to both the weight of scientific information within the literature and expert opinion. Draft documents were composed by a task force steering committee and debated by the task force members until consensus was reached by nominal group process. The task force draft then was reviewed, assessed, and edited by the Board of Regents of the ACCM. After steering committee approval, the draft document was reviewed and approved by the SCCM Council.

CONCLUSIONS

The task force developed nine recommendations with regard to the use of physical restraints and pharmacologic therapies to maintain patient safety in the intensive care unit.

Effect of a treatment interference protocol on clinical decision making for restraint use in the intensive care unit: a pilot study

The literature is replete with articles describing restraint reduction strategies used in long-term care settings, geriatric specialty units, and medical/surgical units in the acute care setting. The feasibility, effectiveness, and appropriateness of such strategies cannot be capriciously applied to the intensive care setting. This article provides an overview of the implementation and outcomes of a pilot study using an algorithmic approach that is clinically appropriate and justifiable for restraint use in the intensive care environment. It provides the critical care nurse with a standardized method for decision analysis when managing patients at risk for treatment interference.

[The process of socialization of nurses at an intensive care center]

The objective of this study was to understand the process of socialization of the new professionals that are part of the subculture of an intensive care unit (ICU). Considering that the ICU is a subculture of the hospital, and that the professionals share symbols and meanings that were developed through social interactions in the context of Intensive Care the symbolic interacionism and the ethnographic description were used as a theoretical and methodological basis for this study. The participant observation, the ethnographic interview and the documented analysis were used to understand the process of internalization of the symbolic universe of the ICU. The results showed that in the socialization process quality values, discipline, commitment, sense of unit, rules and organizational values were reproduced. This process is permeated with feelings of insecurity, anxiety, distress, incompetence and fear. The causes for these feelings have a strong component in the previous nonexistence and in the gap of professional career. This process occurs in a formal and informal way but is always referred as difficult, lonely and sometimes shared.

The ethics of physical restraints in critical care

The use of restraints in the critical care setting represents an extreme end on the continuum of behavioral management. Restraints increase a person's vulnerability to neglect, harm, and exploitation and are associated with significant physical harm and devastating psychologic consequences. The central values of respect for persons, preventing harm, and promoting positive outcomes often conflict when physical restraints are used. This article explores the ethical issues confronting critical care nurses as they weigh the potential harms associated with restraints against the primary commitment to the patient's health and safety. The challenge for critical care nurses is to establish more humane and dignified forms of care for critically ill patients.