Minimizing physical restraints in acute care

The use of restraints to protect patients and insure continuation of care is an accepted fact in today's medical practice. However over the last 20 years a growing body of evidence supports the idea that restraints are harmful and should be used as the last resort. Since 1987, federal law requires long term care facilities to be restraint free. This article describes the use of restraints in the acute care setting, complications of using restraints and efforts to minimize restraint use in order to compliant with national policies.