Views and Experiences of Nurses and Physicians Regarding The Use of Physical Restraints in PICU

Year 2025, Issue: 8, 9 - 15, 11.07.2025

Hatice Yumak , Özlem Arslan Yetimoğlu , Nurseren İşler , Hasan Ağın , Hatice Yıldırım Sarı

https://doi.org/10.26650/CURARE.2025.1594723

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the views and experiences of nurses and physicians regarding the use of physical restraints.

Methods: The study was conducted in the tertiary level paediatric intensive care unit. In the qualitative study, focus group interviews were conducted to reveal the opinions and experiences of physicians and nurses working in the intensive care unit. The physicians working in the clinic were interviewed once, and five focus group interviews were held with the nurses.

Results: The themes identified in the focus group interviews were benefit/harm, reasons for using physical restraints, materials used for restraints, workload, family's reaction, decision-making process for restraint use and consent, and ethical dilemma.

Conclusion: The nurses participating in the present study believed that physical restraint application was beneficial for the following reasons: to prevent the patient from falling off the bed and pulling out the equipment, to continue the treatment, to ensure the safety of the patient, and to protect the child from the complications of chemical restraints. The nurses and physicians stated that they made the decision whether the physical restraints should be applied together as a team, and that different bed designs would make it possible to maintain patient care safely without a need for restraints.

Keywords

Physical restraints , paediatric intensive care , restraints

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