Restraints for elderly a last resort: AMA and nurses develop new guidelines
The AMA is working with nurses and other health professionals to draft new national guidelines on the use of restraints after concerns raised by the College of Nursing Australia about 'inconsistent' practices in residential aged care facilities.
A working party on restraints policy convened by the AMA - including representatives of the AMA, College of Nursing Australia, Australian Nursing Federation, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, the Australian Society for Geriatric Medicine, Australian Nursing Council and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists - is meeting in Melbourne today.
Chair of the AMA's Advisory Committee on the Care of Older People, Dr Gerald Segal, said today the AMA's position on the use of restraints was clear.
"The patient's needs and rights should always be the first priority when considering applying a restraint - physical or pharmacological. Restraint of a patient for staff convenience or to manage patient workloads is completely unacceptable.
"Studies show that fear of culpability for accidents to patients could result in defensive action by nurses and that nurses instigate most requests for physical restraints.*
"The guidelines on restraints are being developed for and by health professionals," Dr Segal said.
The Executive Director of the Royal College of Nursing Australia, Ms Rosemary Bryant, said some nursing home staff - particularly in smaller facilities - were not necessarily aware of the current thinking on the use of restraints.
"Restraining patients can inadvertently benefit staff. However, patients' rights must always come first.
"We have a lot of inconsistency between health professionals in the use of restraints around Australia - from state to state and even within individual facilities.
"We need a set of national guidelines at our fingertips and our members are telling us we need them sooner rather than later," Ms Bryant said.
The formation of the working party follows the AMA's Restraints National Roundtable held in October 2000 and the subsequent release of the AMA's new Position Statement on Restraint in the Care of Older People.
*(Mason J and McCall Smith R 1994 Law and Medical Ethics. Mion L, Minnick A, Palmer R et al 1996 Physical Restraint Use in the hospital setting: Unresolved issues and directions for research )
CONTACT: Sarah Bucknell 02 6270 5472 / 0419 440 076