Restraint Use a Thing of the Past?
A recent
report shows that the use of physical restraints in nursing homes has drastically declined in recent years as the federal government, states and the long-term care industry has placed greater emphasis on eliminating them.
How do you feel about this issue? Many people think restraints are inhumane, and can cause entrapment. On the other hand, restraints might prevent people from injuring themselves.
Mary Jean Koren, assistant vice president at The Commonwealth Fund, a research group, said that changes to federal law in 1987 made it illegal for nursing homes to use restraints to discipline residents or as a matter of convenience. The restraints can only be used for medical reasons, such as to prevent a resident from tearing out an IV. Until the change in law, restraints were standard procedure in many homes.
"We didn't know better," Koren said. "We didn't understand what it did to people both physically and psychologically."
What is your facility's policy? Is anyone still using restraints in this day and age?