Effect of Applying Nursing Guidelines Regarding Physical Restraint on Reducing Local Injuries among Critical Patients

Document Type : Original articles

Authors

1 Clinical Instructor of Critical Care and Emergency in Nursing Faculty Minia University

2 Professor in Medical Surgical Nursing Department (Critical Care Nursing Specialty) Nursing Faculty- Minia University

3 Assistant Professor of Medical Surgical Nursing - Nursing Faculty at Minia University

Abstract

   Background: Critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) around 80 % of them may need to be physically restrained due to agitation, confusion, insomnia, and other disruptive behaviors. Maintaining a secure environment and protecting patients from secondary injuries are some of the main legal and ethical responsibilities of nurses. Aim: Assess the effect of applying nursing guidelines (NG) regarding physical restraint (PR) on reducing local injuries (LI) among critical patients (CP). Sampling: A purposive sample of 60 adult patients of both sexes. Tools: Two tools were used: The First Tool: Patient Health Assessment included three parts. First Part: Patient Socio-Demographic Data Second Part: Patient's Medical Data. Third Part: Restraint Characteristics. Second Tool: Pitting Edema Scale. Results: The current study confirmed that the application of physical restraint nursing guidelines (PRNG) reduces the presence of local injuries and edema post-application of physical restraint among the study group (SG), which reflects the effect of the implemented nursing guidelines for physical restraint on critical patients. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, it could be concluded that the use of PR in critical units (CU) is very common, and the application of physical restraint nursing guidelines leads to a decrease in the presence of LI and edema among CP. Recommendations: Replication of the current study on a larger probability sample from dissimilar national critical care settings is needed to generalize the finding.

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