Practice patterns related to mechanical restraint use across a multi-institutional health care system

In recent years, regulatory and governmental initiatives have focused increased scrutiny on the use and practices associated with mechanical restraints. Consequently, hospitals are increasingly measuring and comparing both internally and externally their restraint practices as they strive to optimize their use and assure the safe care of patients being restrained. This study analyzes 12,860 restraint episodes from 10 acute care hospitals in a single health care system. Overall findings support many previously identified trends related to the types of restraints used and reasons for application. However, findings from this study also suggest that there are differences among rural, community, and tertiary hospitals. This study also provides the first widespread documentation of rates and types of alternative methods attempted and common patient care practices carried out during restraint application. These results can serve as external comparisons for other acute care settings as they strive to minimize and assure safety in restraint application.