The effect of education on trauma critical care nurses attitudes towards and knowledge and practices from the viewpoint of their about application of physical restraint

Physical restraints are commonly used in ICUs to manage patient agitation, ensure patient safety, and prevent patient fall and patient interruption in medical and nursing care interventions. But there are many physical and psychological negative outcomes related to their use. Nurses are the key decision makers in the application of physical restraints to patients. Thus, educational programs regarding physical restraints must be considered to enhance nurse's knowledge, correct their attitude and improve their practice and consequently improve the quality of patients’ care. This study aimed at examining the effect of education program on critical care nurses’ attitudes towards, knowledge about and practice regarding the application of physical restraint. In this quasi experimental study 66 nurses working in traumatic ICUs in Kerman recruited using convenience sampling. Participants were randomly assigned in two control and intervention groups and each group included 33 persons. The study questionnaire consisted of four parts: 1) background information; 2) Self-designed questionnaire to assess nurses’ knowledge about physical restraint; 3) Attitudes of Physical Restraint Use (APRU) to examine the nurses’ attitude towards physical restraints. 4) Practice of Physical Restraint Use (PPRU) to evaluate nurses’ practice regarding physical restraints. Prior to education program implementation, the questionnaire completed by all of the participants. Then an education program conducted for intervention group and after 2 weeks, that questionnaires completed by intervention group again. Data was analyzed using SPSS v.18 and paired t-test, independent t-test and Pearson correlation. After the completion of the education program results showed a significant improvement in the intervention group in terms of knowledge (P<0.001), attitude (P<0.001) and practice (P<0.001) related to physical restraints. Findings indicated the level of nurses’ knowledge, attitude and practice that demonstrated the need to provide an education program on physical restraint. These programs can significantly improve the nurses’ knowledge, attitude and practice.