What is the most serious risk of restraint use?
Asked by: Janiya Hahn | Last update: January 30, 2026Score: 4.4/5 (75 votes)
The most serious risk of restraint use, particularly physical restraint, is death, often from strangulation, asphyxia, or cardiac arrest, especially if applied incorrectly or when a person slides down. Beyond fatality, serious risks include severe physical injuries (skin, bone, soft tissue), psychological trauma (PTSD, fear, anxiety), increased delirium, and worsening medical conditions, making it a last resort with potential for severe harm, even when medically indicated.
What is the most serious risk from restraints?
The most serious risk is death from strangulation. Restraints affect dignity and self-esteem.
Which are the risks from restraint use?
Psychosocial Injury • Including post-traumatic stress disorder and damage to therapeutic relationships. Soft-Tissue Injury • Including injury to skin, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Articular or Bony Injury • Including injury to joints and bones.
What is one serious problem that may result from restraint use?
The patient may become more angry or violent while in restraints or seclusion. The patient may struggle against physical restraints. This can cause skin wounds or block blood flow. It can also increase the patient's heart rate and breathing rate.
What are 5 risks associated with restraints?
Physical Harm
- Chronic Health Conditions: Long-term stress from physical restraint can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
- Elevated Stress Hormones: Fear and anxiety raise stress hormones, contributing to high blood pressure and weakened immunity.
Torts and Restraints - Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing - @LevelUpRN
What are the dangers of restraints?
In addition, physical restraint use can have negative physical impacts, including physical deconditioning, declines in mobility, incontinence, and pressure injuries. Use of physical restraints can also have psychological impacts such as frustration, increased behavioral disturbances, anger, and fear.
What are the risks of using restrictive practices?
Depending on the type of restrictive practice used, serious physical injury and psychological harm can occur. Psychological harm may include trauma, fear, shame, anxiety, depression and loss of dignity.
Which legal complication might the nurse face for using a restraint?
The nurse may be charged with false imprisonment. If a nurse uses restraints without a legal warrant on a client, he/she may be charged with false imprisonment. Libel is the written defamation of character.
What is one reason the use of restraint is now restricted?
One major reason the use of restraints is now restricted is that they were frequently abused by caregivers, leading to harm rather than protection for patients. This has prompted a movement towards more ethical practices in caregiving, focusing on alternatives that respect the dignity of individuals.
Which of the following cases is significant regarding prior restraint?
The first Court case on prior restraint was Near v. Minnesota (1931), in which the Court ruled that a state could not prohibit the publication of material it considered offensive, scandalous, or defamatory.
Which of the following is a possible complication of restraint use?
Complications Associated with Restraint Use
Local skin breakdown: Physically restricting patients can prevent them from repositioning themselves, increasing their risk of developing pressure ulcers. Vascular compromise: If restraints are applied too tight, there is an increased risk of vascular compromise of a limb.
Can you identify three risk factors involved with the use of physical intervention?
Increased risk of falls with one on one restrictive holds. Individual factors that can increase risk: Risks linked to age, size and weight, physical health and mental health. Alcohol, drug abuse, physical exhaustion, recent ingestion of food. Medical conditions/predispositions, History of violence.
What are two major categories of restraints?
Physical restraints limit a patient's movement. Chemical restraints are any form of psychoactive medication used not to treat illness, but to intentionally inhibit a particular behaviour or movement.
What is the most common cause of death of patients restrained in the face up position?
Positional asphyxia. Positional asphyxia, also known as postural asphyxia, is a form of asphyxia which occurs when someone's position prevents the person from breathing adequately. People may die from positional asphyxia accidentally, when the mouth and nose are blocked, or where the chest may be unable to fully expand ...
When should restraints not be used?
Restraints should not cause harm or be used as punishment. Health care providers should first try other methods to control a patient and ensure safety. Restraints should be used only as a last resort. Caregivers in a hospital can use restraints in emergencies or when they are needed for medical care.
What are the potential risks of using physical restraints on patients?
Risks of using physical restraint
Physical restraint often causes problems such as: • loss of strength and falls • pain • constipation or incontinence • pressure injuries (sores) • panic, fear and anger • isolation and loneliness • loss of dignity • injury and death.
What are the 5 types of restraints?
These are chemical restraint, mechanical restraint, physical restraint, environmental restraint and seclusion.
What can be caused by restraint use?
Physical Restraints can cause pressure ulcers, muscle atrophy, or injury if the resident attempts to resist or escape. Chemical Restraints can result in over-sedation, increased risk of falls, aspiration pneumonia, dehydration, and long-term cognitive impairment.
Which of the following is a potential effect of restraint use?
Potential negative outcomes of restraint usage include, but are not limited to, decline in the resident's physical functioning (e.g., ambulation) and muscle condition, contractures, increased incidence of infections, and development of pressure ulcers, delirium, agitation, and incontinence.
What is the primary ethical concern when using restraints in healthcare?
Ethical considerations on physical restraint may be limited to reflection of harms and benefits, respect for autonomy, and universal values such as human dignity [11,38,43,44,46,48,52,55]. In practice, the main conflict is between safety versus freedom of movement.
Which complications would the nurse be aware of when using physical restraints?
Complications associated with immobility (pressure ulcers, constipation, pneumonia, incontinence) can occur with the long-term use of restraints. Restraints should be used as a last resort, and when applied, they should only be secure enough to be effective.
What are the rules for restraints in nursing?
(b) Restraints shall only be used with a written order of a licensed healthcare practitioner acting within the scope of his or her professional licensure. The order must specify the duration and circumstances under which the restraints are to be used. Orders must be specific to individual patients.
Which is the most serious complication that can occur because of restraints?
The most serious risk is death from strangulation. There are also mental effects. The Safe Medical Device Act applies if a restraint causes illness, injury, or death. CMS requires the reporting of any death that occurs while a person is in restraints.
Which risks from restraints are the most common?
Namely, physical restraints are associated with increased incontinence and pressure ulcers (12). They also appear to increase the risk of delirium and agitation, leading to an increased use of psychoactive drugs and longer hospital stays (12-16).
What are the physical risks to a client when restrictive practices are used?
Physical harm including risk of asphyxiation, injury or death. Psychological and/or emotional harm. Any physical restraint that has the purpose or effect of compelling a person's compliance through the infliction of pain, hyperextension of joints, or by applying pressure to the chest or joints.