重症监护室护士对身体约束相关知识、态度和行为的调查分析

目的了解重症监护室护士对患者身体约束相关知识、态度、行为的状况。方法对北京市某三级甲等医院4个重症监护室的121名护士进行患者身体约束相关知识、态度、行为的调查。结果重症监护室护士身体约束知识得分为(12.69±1.84)分,答对率为79.29%,态度得分为(33.46±3.05)分,行为得分为(49.33±6.46)分。不同性别、科室及监护室工作年限的护士在身体约束知识、态度、行为得分差异具有统计学意义(P0.01或P0.05)。结论重症监护室护士身体约束知识整体呈中等偏上水平,但身体约束适应知识存在不足;对身体约束呈中性态度,且有较恰当的身体约束行为。     

Mechanical restraints, rehabilitation therapies, and staffing adequacy as risk factors for falls in an elderly hospitalized population.

This case-control study of fall-related risk factors for elderly hospitalized patients hypothesized that the use of mechanical restraints, participation in a rehabilitation program, and staffing inadequacy increase the risk of falls. The study included 252 patients, also known as "cases," aged 60 to 85 years, who fell during the period between March 1 and December 31, 1993, in a large metropolitan hospital; and 250 "controls," randomly selected patients aged 60 to 85 years, who were matched with the cases in terms of length of stay to the day of the fall. Analysis using conditional logistic regression revealed that individuals who had been placed in a mechanical restraint at any point during their hospital stay prior to the fall (for the cases) or the selected day (for the controls) had approximately twice the risk of falling as did patients who had not been placed in restraints. Cases and controls showed no significant differences in terms of their participation in occupational therapy, physical therapy, or cardiac rehabilitation, and staffing adequacy was similar for both groups. While the finding of 2 to 4.7 times the risk for falls for those placed in a mechanical restraint only approached statistical significance, the results indicate that the risk of falling is highest soon after a patient has had to be placed in a mechanical restraint.     

Development and evaluation of an instrument to measure seniors' attitudes toward the use of bathroom grab bars

Bath grab bars can minimize the effects of many age-related deficits that may contribute to bath-related falls. Despite their potential value, bathroom safety devices remain largely underutilized by many community-living older adults and knowledge concerning attitudinal factors that influence the use of grab bars is sparse. This void of knowledge is due, at least in part, to the lack of instruments to measure the psychosocial constructs influencing bathroom safety device use. This study examined the psychometric properties of a newly developed Grab Bar Use Attitude scale (GUAS). Instrument formation, including item generation, evaluation by a panel of experts, and pilot testing of the draft instrument to establish its face and content validity, was followed by instrument validation using 546 community-living seniors. Results of principal components analysis of the GUAS revealed a two-factor solution, explaining 56% of the variance. The two constructs may best be described as functional/safety and psychosocial consequences of using grab bars. Psychometric analyses of the 9-item scale provided empirical evidence of the internal consistency of the total scale and each subscale. Finally, the GUAS distinguished between regular grab bar users and nonregular users. Implications for use are discussed.     

Nurses' attitudes towards the use of PRN psychotropic medications in acute and forensic mental health settings

Many countries now have national mental health policies and guidelines to decrease or eliminate the use of seclusion and restraint yet the use of Pro Re Nata (PRN) medications has received less practice evaluation. This research aimed to identify mental health nurses' attitudes towards the use of PRN medications with mental health consumers. Participants were working in forensic mental health and non‐forensic acute mental health settings. The “Attitudes towards PRN medication use survey” was used and data were collected online. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package Social Sciences, Version 22.0. Practice differences between forensic and other acute mental health settings were identified related to the use of PRN medications to manage symptoms from nicotine, alcohol and other drug withdrawal. Differences related to the useage of comfort rooms and conducting comprehensive assessments of consumers' psychiatric symptoms were also detected. Qualitative findings highlighted the need for increased accountability for the prescribing and administration of PRN medications along with more nursing education/training to use alternative first line interventions. Nurses administering PRN medications should be vigilant regarding the indications for this practice to ensure they are facilitating the consumer's recovery by reducing the use of all forms of potentially restrictive practices in the hospital setting. The reasons for using PRN medications and PRN administration rates must be continually monitored to avoid practices such as high dose antipsychotics use and antipsychotic polypharmacy to ensure the efficacy of the consumers' management plans on their health care outcomes.     

Physical and chemical restraints in acute care: their potential impact on the rehabilitation of older people

Agitation is a major problem for older people and is present in over half of the hospitalizations for people > 65 years of age. In a previous study by the authors, results indicated that nursing actions often did not meet best-practice standards in the care of older, agitated patients. This paper builds on these results by reviewing the literature pertaining to the use of restraints and contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding the impact of the acute-care experience on rehabilitation outcomes. Successful rehabilitation relies on the improvement of functional health outcomes and, for this to happen, physical and emotional well-being are important. The sequelae of restraint use in acute care have the potential to alter peoples' ability to participate fully in a rehabilitation programme, thereby placing their future placement at risk. This paper explores the outcomes of restraint use in the acute-care setting and presents the argument that their effects are likely to be detrimental to rehabilitation outcomes.     

Staff attitudes and perceptions towards the use of coercive measures in psychiatric patients

The failure of efforts to significantly reduce the use of physical coercive measures (PCMs) in psychiatric hospitals remains a global concern. There is a gap in the understanding of staff's characteristics that may affect their attitudes and perceptions towards PCMs. This study used a cross-sectional design to examine the attitudes and perceptions of staff working at a mental health centre in Israel regarding the use of PCMs and to explore whether staff attitudes differed depending on their professional and demographic background. This study also sought to explore staff willingness to accept a policy of reducing the use of PCMs. The data were collected from 149 staff members (nurses, physicians, and auxiliary staff) working at mental health centre, using a questionnaire developed for this study. The findings indicate a low degree of support for use of PCMs among participants who were older, female, more qualified psychiatric nurses, with longer duration of employment, and those who have not participated in coercive intervention in the past year. The majority of the sample reported a low willingness to reduce the use of PCMs, and a lack of institutional support after participating in a coercive event. High hospital occupancy and insufficient staffing were perceived as contributing factors to coercive incidents. Therefore, availability of trained and experienced staff, elimination of organizational barriers, along with creating and maintaining a safe clinical environment should be a priority. Alternative non-coercive interventions should further be taught and used for managing aggressive and violent behaviour in the psychiatric clinical settings.     

The impact of education on the use of physical restraints in the acute care setting

BACKGROUND: Physical restraints have become an acceptable standard of practice for managing safety and behavior control in acute care settings. Although the primary intent for using physical restraints is for patient protection, there are many negative outcomes related to their use. Heightened awareness by recent Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services standards for restraint use has led health care administrators and nursing staff to explore methods of reducing or eliminating the use of restraints. An educational program was planned and implemented for nursing staff emphasizing the risks of physical restraints and the benefits of innovative optional measures including nonrestraint devices. The program was tested to determine whether increased awareness through education would reduce the use of restraints. METHOD: After current practice patterns and restraint utilization were established, a comprehensive educational program was provided to all nursing personnel. Twenty-three formal classroom inservice offerings were provided with follow-up reinforcement of self-study modules. Education included nursing assessment strategies and practical restraint optional interventions for managing patients exhibiting disruptive behaviors. FINDINGS: After the educational program, the overall use of physical restraints decreased as well as the length of time patients were restrained. CONCLUSION: Results of this study reinforce the need to increase staff awareness and knowledge of nonrestraint interventions to manage disruptive behaviors in the acute care setting.     

Nursing staff perceptions of the behaviour of older nursing home residents and decision making on restraint use: a qualitative and interpretative study

This study examined staff perceptions of the behaviour of older nursing home residents and how these perceptions govern their decision making on restraint use. Data were collected in unstructured interviews with 20 trained and untrained nursing staff from two Swiss nursing homes. Data analysis was based on Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Two main themes were extracted from the data: (i) situations in which behaviour is perceived in terms of a problem that needs to be controlled and consequently leads to restraint use; and (ii) situations in which behaviour is perceived in terms of something one has to learn to live with and consequently leads to avoidance of restraint. Staff members' choices to perceive resident's behaviour from the angle they did were clearly associated with the rights and responsibilities of both nursing staff and older people. It is concluded that the primary source of change towards the avoidance of restraint use does not necessarily lie in external factors, but in staff members themselves.     

Nurses' attitudes and perceptions of pain assessment in neonatal intensive care

Scand J Caring Sci; 2010; 24; 49–55
Nurses' attitudes and perceptions of pain assessment in neonatal intensive care
Background:  Pain assessment of premature infants continue to be ineffective. The problem may be partly because of misconceptions or lack of knowledge in the assessment of pain in children.
Aims:  This paper reports a study to describe nurses' attitudes towards and perceptions of pain assessment in neonatal intensive care and the demographic factors related to these attitudes and perceptions of pain.
Methods:  The participants consisted of 257 Finnish nurses who were recruited from all five of the country's university hospitals caring for the premature infants receiving intensive care or monitoring. We collected data by using a Likert-type questionnaire in spring 2006. The response rate was 71% from the represented population.
Findings:  Almost all (97%) of the nurses agreed that pain assessment in premature infants is important. However, over half (60%) of the respondents agreed that they could assess the premature infants pain reliably without pain scores. The respondents' perceptions of the premature infants' ability to sense and express pain indicated rather good knowledge of the topic. Nevertheless, one-fourth of the participants was unaware that a premature infant could be more sensitive in sensing pain than a full term counterpart. Education, work experience and the working unit were the demographic factors that were significantly related to the respondents' attitudes and perceptions.
Conclusions:  On average nurses' attitudes were positive towards the pain assessment in neonatal intensive care. However, there were some gaps in the knowledge concerning the respondents' perceptions of the items, which is a challenge to nursing and nursing education.     

Nursing staff members' intentions to use physical restraints with older people: testing the theory of reasoned action

AIM OF THE STUDY: To examine nursing staff members' attitudes, subjective norms, moral obligations and intentions to use physical restraints, using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). RATIONALE: During the last two decades an extensive body of research has examined nurses' attitudes as one of the main factors affecting the decision to use or not to use physical restraints with older persons. However, no studies have examined empirically the antecedents to nurses' intentions to use physical restraints within a theoretically based framework. METHOD: A correlational design was used with 303 nursing staff members from an 800-bed elder care hospital in central Israel. Participants completed a questionnaire including questions based on the TRA as well as socio-demographic and professional characteristics. RESULTS: Regression analyses found attitudes, subjective norms and moral considerations to be significantly associated to intention to use physical restraints with older people. The TRA explained 48% of the variance in nurses' intentions. CONCLUSIONS: The TRA proved to be a useful framework for examining nurses' intentions to use physical restraints. Nurses' attitudes, beliefs and expectations of significant others should be examined before implementing educational programmes regarding the use of physical restraints.     

Rehabilitation students' attitudes toward persons with disabilities in high- and low-stakes social contexts: A conjoint analysis

Purpose. The primary objective of this research is to examine factors influencing rehabilitation services students' attitudes toward people with disabilities in two social contexts using a conjoint analysis design.

Method. Ninety-nine students in rehabilitation counselling participated in a conjoint measurement study featuring 55 stimulus cards representing varying disability types, genders, races or ethnicities, grade point averages, internship evaluations, and employment statuses for both high-stakes scenarios and low-stakes scenarios. The participants were instructed to order the stimulus cards to indicate their preferences for associating with different people with disabilities in two social contexts: A high-stakes context as a rehabilitation administrator hiring a counsellor and a low-stakes context as a mentor/companion.

Results. The results showed that age and disability type were most involved in the decision-making process in the low-stakes group, and performance-related variables were most important in the high-stakes context. Attitude was significantly affected by client characteristics unrelated to disability including age and race or ethnicity, and factors influencing attitude formation differed across the two social contexts.

Conclusion. Conjoint analysis can contribute to our understanding of the formation of attitudes or preferences in multiple social contexts. Using these results, it may be possible to develop effective attitude change strategies.     

Perioperative nurses' attitudes toward the use of nursing diagnoses in documentation

AIM: This paper reports a study of nurses' attitudes towards the use of nursing diagnoses in perioperative documentation and the factors affecting these attitudes. BACKGROUND: There are both international and national requests for nurses to move from natural language-based narrative documentation to electronic documentation and clinical use of nursing classifications. However, nurses' attitudes toward nursing classifications have not been widely studied. METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed to a purposive sample of perioperative nurses (n = 146) who had participated in clinical testing of nursing diagnoses. The response rate was 60% (n = 87). The data were collected in 2003. RESULTS: In general, nurses' attitudes toward nursing diagnoses were positive. Those over 40 years of age who had clinical experience from 10 to 19 years, postbasic nursing education and previous knowledge of nursing diagnoses were most positive in their attitudes. However, the use of nursing diagnoses in perioperative practice was not seen as either necessary or accurate in describing patients' problems. Furthermore, the documentation of perioperative routines was seen as time-consuming and frustrating. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing classifications should be included in both preregistration nursing curricula and in-service educational programmes to ensure theoretical knowledge of and practical skills in standardized clinical languages. The perioperative nursing diagnoses should be reviewed to fit better with clinical practice. In addition, current perioperative documentation practices should be reconsidered and updated as appropriate to address clinical requirements better.