Psychiatric nurses' decision to restrain

The use of restraints in all health care settings has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. Although the organizational context has been suggested as a possible influence on restraint use, few researchers have examined whether organizational factors affect use of restraints and nurses' decisions to restrain patients hospitalized in psychiatric facilities. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of nurses' work empowerment (an indicator of organizational culture) with nurses' decision to restrain. This study also examined the association between individual characteristics of the patient and of the nurses with nurses' decision to restrain. Lastly, this study examined the decision patterns used by psychiatric nurses in response to patient situations in which restraint might be considered.