The Use of Physical Restraint in the Care of the Mentally Ill by Nurses in a Psychiatric Hospital in Southeast Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The use of physical restraint as an intervention in the care of psychiatric patients is as old as psychiatry and remains one of the common procedures in psychiatry. Nurses play crucial roles in the application.

Aim: To evaluate the practice of physical restraint by nurses in a tertiary psychiatric hospital.

Methods: Sixty-seven nurses who work at the emergency clinic, the male and female acute wards of the hospital, were administered a questionnaire that asked about their practice of physical restraint.

Results: Sites of the restraints were mostly bilateral at the wrist and ankle restraint (56.5%), and  wrapper was the most commonly used material for physical restraints. About 97% of physical restraints were to protect staff and other patients from injury.

Conclusion: There is the need to ensure that protocols are developed by different psychiatric service centres, in addition to the training and retraining of nurses to ensure safe and effective  use of physical restraint.