Staff training decreases use of seclusion and restraint in an acute psychiatric hospital

Rates of seclusion and restraint in an urban psychiatric hospital were comp ared during the 12-month periods before and after implementing the recommen dations of a multidisciplinary quality improvement work-group convened to r educe the hospital's use of physical containment. Interventions included a mandatory staff training session on the management of assaultive behavior, weekly discussion items during team meetings for each local ward, and hospi tal-wide publicity charting the ongoing progress of the effort. Total annua l rates of restraint dropped 13.8%. The average duration of restraint per a dmission decreased 54.6%. Staff injuries were reduced by 18.8% during the s tudy period. Copyright (C) 1999 by W.B. Saunders Company.