Nurses' Knowledge and Practices of Physical Restraints in Intensive Care Units: An Observational Study

<p> <h3 id="x-x-nop2625-sec-0001title"> Aim </h3> <p id="x-x-__p1"> To investigate the knowledge and practice of physical restraints (PR) among Jordanian intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. <h3 id="x-x-nop2625-sec-0002title"> Design </h3> <p id="x-x-__p2"> A descriptive, observational design was used. <h3 id="x-x-nop2625-sec-0003title"> Methods </h3> <p id="x-x-__p3"> A convenience sampling was used to recruit participants. We examined the knowledge of PR in 301 nurses (knowledge check) and the real&hyphen;time practice of PR in 81 nurses (direct observation) in ICU. A knowledge questionnaire was used to collect data on knowledge about PR use, and data on their practice of PR were observed and documented using an observation checklist. <h3 id="x-x-nop2625-sec-0004title"> Results </h3> <p id="x-x-__p4"> The mean scores of nurses' knowledge and practices were 61.5 ( <em> SD </em> = 12.1) and 57.4 ( <em> SD </em> = 9.7), respectively. More than half of nurses had poor knowledge of PR use and incorrect practice of implementing PR (51.5% and 60.5%, respectively). Results indicated a positive correlation between nurses' knowledge and their use of PR. </p> </p> </p> </p></p>