Ethical Considerations of Patient Restraint

This assignment delves into the ethical complexities surrounding patient restraint and seclusion within healthcare facilities. It examines the application of nursing ethics and codes of practice in minimizing restraint usage while prioritizing patient safety and well-being. The analysis draws upon Martin et al.'s (2008) study, highlighting the importance of patient involvement in decision-making processes and addressing the challenges nurses face when balancing patient rights with necessary safety measures.

Running head: SUMMARY OF JOURNAL ARTICLE
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Source: Martin, A., Krieg, H., Esposito, F., Stubbe, D. and Cardona, L., 2008. Reduction of
restraint and seclusion through collaborative problem solving: a five-year prospective inpatient
study. Psychiatric Services, 59(12), pp.1406-1412.
The current study focuses on the concept of reduction of patient restraint and seclusion in
healthcare settings through the appropriate application of nursing ethics and code of practices.
The restraints are applied within a hospital set up with the primary belief of promoting patient
safety and well-being. The restraints could be defined as any manual method physical or
mechanical device which reduces the potential of a person to move their bodies. It is particularly
used with physically weak patients or the ones with reduced cognitive abilities. Thus without
proper constraint or measures, the patients are in a risk of haring themselves and others.
However, a number of ethical constraints and limitations are faced in the application of restraints
within a hospital and care set up.
In this respect, the American nurses association strongly supports the participation of registered
nurses in reducing the seclusion of patients within a hospital set up. This is in lieu to the nursing
ethics and code of practices which promulgates empowerment and right to dignity to the patients.
As mentioned by Martin et al. (2008), the patients need to be made a compulsory part of the
decision-making and care designing process. Therefore, the participation of the patients and their
respective families in the decision-making process helps in prevention of arguments within a
clinical setup. Dilemmas are a constant part of nursing care and practices whereby the nursing
profession or the healthcare worker looking after the care concerns of the patients are often
restrained to exercise their wishes owing to certain physical and mental barriers. The physical
barriers may prevent free movement and participation in daily life activities of the patients.
Additionally, some of the patients may be suffering from impaired cognition and decision-

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making abilities such as in dementia. Therefore, the nursing or the healthcare professional
looking after the care needs of such patients often have to face greater level of challenges from
the patient and the family members of the patient. The nurses have been often found to struggle
with their responsibility of maintaining the rights and freedom of the patient. The restraint is
justified when dealing with patient expressing difficult behaviour in the form of psychotic
delirium. Therefore, such moments call for immediate restraining measures to be applied by the
nurses. The restraints may also be applied where the patient has a history of falling. Therefore,
application of preventive measures can help in the prevention of injury within the hospital
settings. As argued by Martin et al (2008) lack of knowledge and unconditional demand from
the family members of the patients often makes application of the nursing codes of practices
difficult. As per the code of federal regulations (2006), the registered nurse in the care of a
restrained patient expressing violent behaviour needs to be guided by other registered or general
professionals.