Physical Restraint in Critical Care

Published

I would like to ask a question about tying up the patient staying in the intensive care unit. How to deal with the problem of pulling out the pipes of catheters, tubuses, ALines and all kinds of other essential devices. The nursing staff in Israel ties the patients' hands to the bed using delicate straps made of fabric. 

Do the nursing staff elsewhere use more advanced methods? What method is used in your hospital?

image.png.966e88c845b81b094b84568e1f25bbc1.png

Mostly these in the ICU's. Mostly with sedation. 

Specializes in Critical Care.

Soft bilateral wrist restraints along with Precedex or some IVP PRN medications.

Specializes in Critical Care, Capacity/Bed Management.

We typically try to avoid physical restraint in my critical care unit and have pretty good luck with intravenous sedation. However, if the need arises we will start off with bilateral mittens if the patient is just touching or reaching, but not actually grabbing (just needs re-direction). As others mentioned sometimes for those actively trying to pull lines bilateral soft wrist restraints are the next appropriate choice. 

Also this is a public forum where anyone can access our posts. It may be beneficial to change your username so that it does not include your name, and remove your photograph. Welcome to AllNurses!

image.png.ec866d46d99a142f6794fa664d3b1eda.png                          Mittens 

+ Join the Discussion