Attitudes of psychiatric nurses toward restraint interventions in Italian mental health care: Implications for clinical practice

Elsa Vitale; Roberto Lupo; Martina Farì; Marta Fanton; Alessia Lezzi; Antonino Calabrò; Maurizio  Ercolani; Maicol Carvello; Giovanna Artioli; Luana Conte; Giorgio De Nunzio

doi:10.23750/abm.v96i2.16443

Attitudes of psychiatric nurses toward restraint interventions in Italian mental health care: Implications for clinical practice

Authors

Elsa Vitale Centre of Mental Health Modugno, Local Healthcare Company Bari, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9738-3479
Roberto Lupo Emergency Department, “San Giuseppe da Copertino” Hospital, ASL (Local Health Authority) Lecce, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6151-2294
Martina Farì “Villa Mafalda” Nursing Home, Rome, Italy
Marta Fanton Intensive Care Unit, “Nuovo Ospedale degli Infermi”, Hospital, ASL (Local Health Authority) Biella, Proderano, Italy
Alessia Lezzi Dept. of Palliative Care, National Cancer Association (ANT) Italia Foundation ONLUS, Lecce, Italy
Antonino Calabrò Mental Department, “Nuovo Ospedale degli Infermi” Hospital, ASL (Local Health Authority) Biella, Proderano, Italy
Maurizio Ercolani “ASUR Marche Area Vasta 2” Health Mental Department, Ancona, Italy
Maicol Carvello “Community Hospital”, ASL (Local Health Authority) of Romagna, Brisighella, Italy
Giovanna Artioli University of Parma, Parma, Italy
Luana Conte Department of Physics and Chemistry, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; Advanced Data Analysis in Medicine (ADAM), Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Research Applied to Medicine (DReAM), University of Salento and ASL (Local Health Authority) Lecce, Italy
Giorgio De Nunzio Laboratory of Biomedical Physics and Environment, Department of Mathematics and Physics “E. De Giorgi”, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy. Advanced Data Analysis in Medicine (ADAM), Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Research Applied to Medicine (DReAM), University of Salento and ASL (Local Health Authority) Lecce, Italy

Keywords:

Restraint, Nurse roles, Practice Nursing, Mental Health

Abstract

Background and aim: To analyze psychiatric nursing attitudes and believes on restraint nursing approaches

Methods: An observational and cross sectional study was carried out on nurses employed in mental health facilities trough a questionnaire administered on-line. The questionnaire was created specially for the purpose of the study and contained 5 main sections: i. socio-demographic data, attituded towards physical restraint, and the de-escalation attitude in the psychiatric nurses interviewed. For each item a response between “always”, “sometimes”, and “never” was proposed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were assessed.

Results: 268 psychiatric nurses were enrolled in this study. The data reported that most of the participants had over six years of work experience in mental health and 80% received training on physical restraint during their nursing degree, mostly in the post-base update. Conflicting opinions with respect to physical constraints as safe tools to prevent skin lesions, and to the risks associated with this practice, were revealed.

Conclusions: Implementing educational programs for healthcare personnel seemed imperative, focusing on equipping them with strategies to minimize the use of restraint and to effectively adapt to the anticipated transformations in contemporary psychiatry.

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