Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to identify the factors predicting psychiatric nurses’ decision to use physical restraint in a clinical psychiatric setting in the Province of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: A descriptive explanatory design was used. 110 nurses working in a psychiatric hospital in Jeddah city were recruited during the period 27th April to 29th June 2017. The outcome was assessed on the following scales: level of knowledge, occupational stress, working environment, nurses’ attitude toward use of physical restraint and nurses’ practice toward use of physical restraint.

RESULTS: The study participants had sufficient knowledge about the use of physical restraint, experienced high levels of occupational stress, suffered an unproductive working environment and accepted attitudes and practice toward physical restraint. In addition, these variables significantly predicted the nurses’ use of physical restraint.

CONCLUSION: The findings revealed that the level of knowledge and occupational stress scales, the working environment, and nurses’ attitude and practice toward the use of physical restraint significantly predicted the nurses’ use of physical restraint.

RECOMMENDATIONS: The study recommends the establishment of educational and awareness programmes for nurses to better understand the concept of restraining a patient and the consideration of alternative measures for controlling agitated and violent patients. It also recommends that providing adequate staffing and other resources, maintaining a therapeutic ward environment, and decreasing work-related stress could influence psychiatric nurses’ decisions to use physical restraint on their patients.

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