Restraint-free care: how does a nurse decide?

Physical Restraint Use in Intensive Care Units: Exploring the Decision-Making Process and New Proposals. A Multimethod Study

Aim: The general aim of this study was to explore the decision-making process followed by Intensive Care Unit (ICU) health professionals with respect to physical restraint (PR) administration and management, along with the factors that influence it. Method: A qual-quant multimethod design was sequenced in two stages: an initial stage following a qualitative methodology; and second, quantitative with a predominant descriptive approach. The multicenter study was undertaken at 17 ICUs belonging to 11 public hospitals in the Madrid region (Spain) across the period 2015 through 2019. The qualitative stage was performed from an interpretative phenomenological perspective. A total of eight discussion groups (DG) were held, with the participation of 23 nurses, 12 patient care nursing assistants, and seven physicians. Intentional purposive sampling was carried out. DG were tape-recorded and transcribed. A thematic analysis of the latent content was performed. In the quantitative stage, we maintained a 96-h observation period at each ICU. Variables pertaining to general descriptive elements of each ICU, institutional pain-agitation/sedation-delirium (PAD) monitoring policies and elements linked to quality of PR use were recorded. A descriptive analysis was performed, and the relationship between the variables was analyzed. The level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Findings: A total of 1070 patients were observed, amounting to a median prevalence of PR use of 19.11% (min: 0%–max: 44.44%). The differences observed between ICUs could be explained by a difference in restraint conceptualization. The various actors involved jointly build up a health care culture and a conceptualization of the terms “safety-risk”, which determine decision-making about the use of restraints at each ICU. These shared meanings are the germ of beliefs, values, and rituals which, in this case, determine the greater or lesser use of restraints. There were different profiles of PR use among the units studied: preventive restraints versus “Zero” restraints. The differences corresponded to aspects such as: systematic use of tools for assessment of PAD; interpretation of patient behavior; the decision-making process, the significance attributed to patient safety and restraints; and the feelings generated by PR use. The restraint–free model requires an approach to safety from a holistic perspective, with the involvement of all team members and the family.

Improving practice and informing policy development: The impact of gerontological nursing research

Nurses have always approached the clinical care challenges they encounter with a combination of critical observation and a profound concern for human suffering. Beginning in earnest in the early 1980s, nurse researchers have pursued the answers to questions about the wellbeing of older adults, particularly those suffering from serious, chronic conditions. This paper offers three exemplars of nursing research domains that illustrate the creativity and commitment of nurse researchers seeking to understand and improve pervasive clinical problems experienced by older adults and to demonstrate the profound influence these activities have had on the evolution of the science and the quality of care for older adults. The impact of this work is reflected in practice protocols, institutional policies, government oversight, and improved outcomes for patients.

Attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and emotions of the nursing staff toward patient restraint

Physical restraints are used as a psychiatric intervention to protect psychiatric inpatients from self-harm or harm to others, by securing a safe environment for the patients and staff. We examined nurses' attitudes, environmental concerns, and emotional responses to physical restraint of psychiatric inpatients, using a questionnaire we constructed expressly for this study. Nurses reported that the main criteria for restraint were endangerment of the patient's self or surroundings. Bothersome actions and environmental conditions also significantly impacted nurses' decisions to physically restrain patients. Emotional reactions to restraining procedures as experienced by staff and as perceived for patients were generally negative. Nurses should be trained to deal with violent patients, establish limits, and recognize the therapeutic aspect of restraints in order to respond assertively.

Nurses using physical restraints: Are the accused also the victims? - A study using focus group interviews

Background

To date, the literature has provided an abundance of evidence on the adverse outcomes of restraint use on patients. Reportedly, nurses are often the personnel who initiate restraint use and attribute its use to ensuring the safety of the restrained and the others. A clinical trial using staff education and administrative input as the key components of a restraint reduction program was conducted in a rehabilitation setting to examine whether there were any significant differences in the prevalence of restraint use pre- and post-intervention. Subsequent to the implementation of the intervention program, focus group interviews were conducted to determine the perspective of the nursing staff on the use of restraints and their opinions of appropriate means to reduce their use.

Method

Registered nurses working in units involved in the study were invited to participate in focus group interviews on a voluntary basis. Twenty-two registered nurses (three males [13.6%] and nineteen females [86.4%]) attended the four sessions. All interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Other than the author, another member of the project team validated the findings from the data analysis.

Results

Four themes were identified. Participants experienced internal conflicts when applying physical restraints and were ambivalent about their use, but they would use restraints nonetheless, mainly to prevent falls and injuries to patients. They felt that nurse staffing was inadequate and that they were doing the best they could. They experienced pressure from the management level and would have liked better support. Communication among the various stakeholders was a problem. Each party may have a different notion about what constitutes a restraint and how it can be safely used, adding further weight to the burden shouldered by staff.

Conclusion

Studies about restraints and restraint use have mostly focused on nurses' inadequate and often inaccurate knowledge about the use of restraints and its associated adverse effects. These studies, however, fail to note that nurses can also be victims of the system. Restraint use is a complex issue that needs to be understood in relation to the dynamics within an environment.

Nurses' feelings and thoughts about using physical restraints on hospitalized older patients

AIM

To explore nurses' feelings and thoughts about physically restraining older hospitalized patients.

BACKGROUND

The use of physical restraints is still highly prevalent in hospitals; furthermore, older patients are most likely to be so restrained. Studies in acute care settings have focused mainly on nurses' knowledge, attitudes, or practice concerning physical restraints, on physical restraint reduction programmes, on nurses' perceptions about the use of physical restraints, or on elderly patients' experiences with physical restraints. To the best of our knowledge no studies have been conducted on hospital nurses' feelings and thoughts about the use of physical restraints in Taiwan.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A qualitative approach was used to understand this phenomenon. Semi-structured interviews were carried out, from August 2002 to March 2003, with 12 nurses working in three hospitals. The interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim; content analysis was used to analyse the data.

RESULTS

Nurses reported a variety of emotional responses regarding the use of physical restraints, including sadness, guilt, conflicts, retribution, absence of feelings, security, and pity for the restrained older people. Rationalization, sharing with colleagues, and compensating behaviours were ways that nurses used to manage their negative feelings.

CONCLUSIONS

Most nurses had negative feelings towards the use of physical restraints. Among these nurses there was a struggle between patients' autonomy and the practice of care. However, other nurses said they had 'no feelings' or 'feeling of security' while using physical restraints.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The findings of this study may contribute to filling the gaps in nursing knowledge, to improving protocols for physical restraint use in hospitals, and may also assist nurse managers to create a supportive practice environment. It is recommended that in-service training programmes should cover misconceptions regarding physical restraint use, ethical issues and how to cope with feelings while using physical restraints.

Exercising restraint: Clinical, legal and ethical considerations for the patient with Alzheimer’s disease

The number of older people using emergency care is increasing steadily and older people account for over half of all emergency admissions. In the emergency setting, nurses caring for older people with Alzheimer's disease can be faced with many complex ethical and legal challenges. Moreover, challenges such as the use of physical restraint can precipitate conflict when the nurse is placed in the precarious position of doing good, respecting autonomy and avoiding paternalism. Although, there is no complete set of "rules" that can provide nurses with an answer to each dilemma, it is of significant value for nurses to have sound knowledge of ethical and legal positions in order to analyse the many complex situations that they may encounter.

Why do we use physical restraints in the elderly?

The use of physical restraints in the elderly is a common practice in many countries. This paper summarizes the current knowledge on the use of restraints in home care, hospitals and nursing homes. Between 1999-2004 the reported prevalence numbers range from 41-64% in nursing homes and 33-68% in hospitals; numbers of restraint use in home care are unknown. Bed rails and belts have been reported as the most frequently used restraints in bed; chairs with a table and belts are the most frequently reported restraints in a chair. It is evident that physical restraints in most cases are used as safety measures; the main reason is the prevention of falls. In the hospital setting, the safe use of medical devices is also an important reason for restraint use. Predictors for the use of physical restraints are poor mobility, impaired cognitive status and high dependency of the elderly patient and the risk of falls in the nurses' opinion. Furthermore, there are indications that restraint use is related to organizational characteristics. Finally, many adverse effects of restraint use have been reported in the literature, like falls, pressure sores, depression, aggression, and death. Because of the adverse effects of restraints and the growing evidence that physical restraints are no adequate measure for the prevention of falls, measures for the reduction of physical restraints are discussed and recommendations are made for future research.

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

In view of the difficulty involved in decision-making regarding the use or removal of physical restraints and the recent pattern encouraging the use of interdisciplinary teams for elder care issues, the present study compared the perceptions of Israeli nurses and social workers in health care settings regarding the use of physical restraints. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 50 nurses and 69 social workers working in long-term and acute care settings. The findings indicated that participants in all professions attributed moderate to low importance towards the use of physical restraints. Social workers' perceptions were similar to those of nurses in psychiatric hospitals and slightly more favourable to the use of physical restraints than those of nurses in nursing homes. Patients' safety (as reflected in the scores of the items related to protecting an older person from falling and protecting an older person from pulling out a catheter) was the most important reason for using physical restraints for both groups. Increased attention should be given to the role of social workers as team members in the process of decision-making regarding the use or removal of physical restraints, especially as mediators between the elderly person, family members and staff members.

Nursing staff members' intentions to use physical restraints with older people: testing the theory of reasoned action

AIM OF THE STUDY

To examine nursing staff members' attitudes, subjective norms, moral obligations and intentions to use physical restraints, using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA).

RATIONALE

During the last two decades an extensive body of research has examined nurses' attitudes as one of the main factors affecting the decision to use or not to use physical restraints with older persons. However, no studies have examined empirically the antecedents to nurses' intentions to use physical restraints within a theoretically based framework.

METHOD

A correlational design was used with 303 nursing staff members from an 800-bed elder care hospital in central Israel. Participants completed a questionnaire including questions based on the TRA as well as socio-demographic and professional characteristics.

RESULTS

Regression analyses found attitudes, subjective norms and moral considerations to be significantly associated to intention to use physical restraints with older people. The TRA explained 48% of the variance in nurses' intentions.

CONCLUSIONS

The TRA proved to be a useful framework for examining nurses' intentions to use physical restraints. Nurses' attitudes, beliefs and expectations of significant others should be examined before implementing educational programmes regarding the use of physical restraints.

Nursing staff perceptions of the behaviour of older nursing home residents and decision making on restraint use: a qualitative and interpretative study

This study examined staff perceptions of the behaviour of older nursing home residents and how these perceptions govern their decision making on restraint use. Data were collected in unstructured interviews with 20 trained and untrained nursing staff from two Swiss nursing homes. Data analysis was based on Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Two main themes were extracted from the data: (i) situations in which behaviour is perceived in terms of a problem that needs to be controlled and consequently leads to restraint use; and (ii) situations in which behaviour is perceived in terms of something one has to learn to live with and consequently leads to avoidance of restraint. Staff members' choices to perceive resident's behaviour from the angle they did were clearly associated with the rights and responsibilities of both nursing staff and older people. It is concluded that the primary source of change towards the avoidance of restraint use does not necessarily lie in external factors, but in staff members themselves.

Initiation of physical restraint in nursing home residents following restraint reduction efforts

In this pilot study a one group pretest posttest design was employed to identify resident characteristics and environmental factors associated with initiation of physical restraint. Predictors of restraint initiation for older adults were examined using secondary analysis of an existing data set of nursing home residents who were subjected to a federal mandate and significant restraint reduction efforts. Lower cognitive status (OR = 1.5 [for every 7-point decrease in Mini-Mental State Examination], 95% CI = 1.0, 2.1) and a higher ratio of licensed nursing personnel (OR = 3.7, 95% CI = 1.2, 11.9) were predictive of restraint initiation. Key findings suggest that restraint initiation occurs, despite significant restraint reduction efforts, when a nursing home resident is cognitively impaired or when more licensed nursing personnel (predominantly licensed practical nurses) are available for resident care. Achievement of restraint-free care in nursing homes requires specific and individualized approaches for residents who are cognitively impaired, as well as greater attention to staff mix of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nursing aides.

Predictors of continued physical restraint use in nursing home residents following restraint reduction efforts

OBJECTIVES

To examine predictors of continued restraint use in nursing home residents following efforts aimed at restraint reduction.

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of data from a clinical trial using a one-group, pre-test post-test design.

SETTING

Three nonprofit, religion-affiliated nursing homes in a metropolitan area.

PARTICIPANTS

The sample consisted of 201 physically restrained nursing home residents. Following restraint reduction efforts, 135 of the sample were still restrained. Mean age of participants was 83.9 years.

MEASUREMENTS

Physical restraint use was measured by observation and included any chest/vest, wrist, mitt, belt, crotch, suit, or harness restraint plus any sheet used as restraint or a geriatric chair with fixed tray table. Nursing home residents were subjected to any one of three conditions aimed at restraint reduction, including adherence to the mandate of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA '87), staff education, and education with consultation from a gerontological clinical nurse specialist. Resident characteristics including dependency, health status, mental status, depression, behavior, fall risk; presence of treatment devices and institutional factors were determined.

RESULTS

Physical dependency, lower cognitive status, behavior, presence of treatment devices, presence of psychiatric disorders, fall risk, and fall risk as staff rationale for restraint were associated (P < .10) with continued restraint use. Nursing hours, staff mix, prevalence of restraint use by unit, and site were also associated (P < .10) with continued use of physical restraints. Following bivariate analysis, associated resident characteristics were subjected to logistic regression. Lower cognitive status (OR = 2.4 (for every 7-point decrease in MMSE), 95% CI, 1.7, 3.3) and fall risk as staff rationale for restraint (OR = 3.5, 95% CI., 1.5, 8.0) were predictive of continued restraint use. Adding nursing hours, staff mix, and prevalence of restraint use by unit to the logistic regression model was not statistically significant (partial chi-square = 2.79, df = 6, P = .834). Nursing home site was added to the model without changing the significance (P < .05) of cognitive status or fall risk as a staff rationale for restraint use.

CONCLUSION

Continued restraint use in nursing home residents in this study most often occurred with severe cognitive impairment and/or when fall risk was considered by staff as a rationale for restraint. Efforts to reduce or eliminate physical restraint use with these groups will require greater efforts to educate staff in the assessment and analysis of fall risk, along with targeted interventions, particularly when cognition is also impaired.