restraint reduction and fall risks

Tiwi · Mar 5, 2007

1. We are not allowed to use any form of restraint without documentation from the official guardian and the RMO, combined. A guardian is appointed by the court to represent a person unable to make informed decisions - they are either a family member or from the Guardianship Board.

2. We instead utilise patient care assistants (PCAs) to sit with these ppl, to reduce falls. I think they have to be approved by the chief executive officer of the hospital - it goes way beyond the senior nurses responsible for staffing.

3. We also use a falls risk scale. This is used as legal documentation, and is updated every week, unless there is reason to adjust prn.

Restraints (even the bandaging of a patient's hand to prevent removal of IVs, IDCs, and NGTs) are not allowed legally without prior approval from the above...

caliotter3 · Mar 5, 2007

Not a direct reply to your ? but a personal experience. I recently underwent surgery, and even after staying longer than I was supposed to, was not in good shape to be navigating on my own. When I finally got the go ahead to take off, I went to the nurses station to call a cab, and was asked about using a wheelchair to get to the hosp entrance. I insisted I could make it on my own, b/c I didn't want to spend another minute there. Luckily I made it to the front door, to the cab, and from the cab, to the inside of my door before I went down. I can't blame the nurses really, because I was insisting that I was ok. They would have really had to assess my ability to walk a straight line to take any other stance. I do believe that they should have insisted on the wheelchair to the hosp entrance though. I thought that was standard procedure everywhere.