Reducing need to restrain vulnerable patients

A multiprofessional consortium led by the Royal College of Nursing has developed guidance on reducing the need for restrictive interventions in hospitals and residential or care homes. The guidance, published by the Department of Health this year, states that nurses and other staff must create therapeutic environments that promote wellness, and must use restrictive interventions only when there is a real possibility of harm to the person, staff or the public. Staff must not restrain people in a way that affects their airway, breathing or circulation, and restrictive intervention must not include the deliberate application of pain. Interventions used must always be the least restrictive option to meet the immediate need.