Chemical Restraints vs Physical Restraints

[kodeblue26]

Hi everyone :) I'm doing a debate assignment for my mental health nursing class.

I basically have to explain why chemical restraints are a better alternative than physical restraints. The other team has to explain why physical restraints are a better alternative than chemical restraints.

In terms of physical restraints, I know they have the potential to cause nerve injury, pressure ulcers, pneumonia, asphyxiation, and unintended injury. Am I missing anything?

Other than potential medication errors, I haven't been able to find out exactly what the pros and cons are of chemical restraints so that I can argue accordingly. :)

Any suggestions would be extremely helpful. Thanks!

[loriangel14, RN]

Chemical restraints can have side effects if used on along term basis.Also patients that have been medicated have in increased risk of falling and aspiration when they eat or drink

[jmdRN]

Also, consider that chemical restrains can depress the CNS, so look at the effects of a depressed CNS.

Can you have an effective therapy session/therapeutic communication etc with someone who's chemically sedated?

How will you evaluate their thought processes if they are so 'snowed' that you can hardly make out what they are saying?

[elkpark]

Chemical restraints can have side effects if used on along term basis.

It's also possible (although not common) that some of the drugs commonly used as "chemical restraints" can have serious and even life-threatening side effects and adverse reactions with a single use.

Another issue is that, with physical restraints, you strap people down, and, when they're calmed down, you release the restraints and that's over and done with. With chemical restraint, you can't suck the drugs back out of the person when they're calm or if they're having a bad reaction -- the medication is in the individual's system until it's naturally cleared by the body. And some of the drugs used have a long half-life. For that reason, chemical restraint is considered a more restrictive form of restraint than physical restraint in some (many?) psych circles.