Document Type

Article

Article Version

Post-print

Publication Date

2-2020

Abstract

Restraint and seclusion continues to be a challenging topic in psychiatric nursing care. While there is a movement toward reduction and elimination of restraint, emergency situations still arise that require intervention for the safety of patients and staff. In addition to traditional methods of restraint (physical holds, four-point restraint, seclusion), the restraint chair has been introduced at some hospitals as an alternative to four-point restraint. The restraint chair allows the patient to be upright in a seated position during the restraint process. Little research on the restraint chair currently exists. The purpose of this study was to examine the nurses' experience with the restraint chair compared to four-point restraint. Results indicate nurses feel the restraint chair is easier to use, more humane, less traumatic, comforting, and enhances the therapeutic relationship compared to four-point restraint. Based on the reports of nurses in this study and prior quantitative work on the restraint chair (Castillo, Coyne, Chan, Hall, & Vilke, 2011; Visaggio et al., 2018), the restraint chair appears to be a safe and effective alternative to traditional four-point restraint. More research verifying these results at other hospitals in the United States and abroad is warranted.

Comments

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The author post-print has been archived here with permission from the copyright holder under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License.

Publication Title

Archives of Psychiatric Nursing

Published Citation

Visaggio, Nicole, Kathryn E. Phillips, Sharon Milne, Jeanne McElhinney, and Scott C. Young. "The restraint chair: A qualitative study of nurses' experience with the restraint chair versus four point restraint." Archives of Psychiatric Nursing 34, no. 1 (2020): 2-6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2019.12.009

DOI

10.1016/j.apnu.2019.12.009

Peer Reviewed

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