Use of physical restraints on elderly patients: an exploratory study of the perceptions of nurses in Hong Kong

A qualitative study was designed to explore nurses' perceptions of the use of physical restraints on elderly patients in Hong Kong. Content analysis o f semistructured interviews with 20 registered nurses working in medical an d geriatric settings of two regional hospitals revealed that although nurse s generally had mixed feelings about th use of physical restraints on elder ly patients, they did not question this 'routine' practice and their knowle dge about the consequences and alternatives to the use of restraint was lim ited. It was found that nurses had an overriding concern in ensuring elderl y patients' physical safety and using restraints therefore provided thee wi th a sense of security, The deleterious impact of restraint on the care rec eived by elderly patients was largely unrecognized, Implications for practi ce and future studies are discussed in the light of these findings.