Restraints

                Restraints is one of the wildly used intervention in health care setting for elderly patients that are violent, confused or demented. Having to work in Medical Surgical floor, I have witnessed different situations where restraints were used on patients that are demented and confused rather than trying to use the least restrictive measures. As a result, the patients were placed in higher risk of injury. One reason is probably due to short staffing which is one of the major problem in our health care setting.  According to Townsend (2015), restraints are never to be used as punishment or for the convenience of the staff, and other measures to decrease patient agitation, such as talking down should be tried first. Restraints are often justified in terms of preventing harm to the target person or their peers; however, there is now substantial evidence that restraints result in injuries and sometimes death (Sturney, 2015). Patient safety should always be the top priority in every health care setting, and we should always protect our patients’ well-being with dignity and respect.

                According to the article written by Ziglar, the pros and cons for using restraints is based on providing patient protection in relation to patient safety who are confused or demented. Such as, preventing falls and interference with medical treatment such as preventing patients from pulling out a feeding tube or catheter. Negatives associated with the use of restraints in elderly confused patients includes reports that suggest their use actually increases risk of patient injury instead of promoting safety and providing protection against injury (Ziglar).

                The key stakeholders are the health care workers (nurses, residents and clinical fellows), patient care services (PCA, unit clerks, housekeeping, security personnel) and professional services (Radiology technician, Respiratory and Pharmacy)

                The Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 amended by the MHA 2007

provides the authority to detain individuals for assessment and or treatment

of a mental disorder. The authority to restrain a client is allowed if the following conditions are satisfied: The patient lacks capacity in relation to the matter in question and the member of staff reasonably believes that it is necessary to restrain in order to prevent harm to the client (Griffiths & Nicholas, 2003)