Determination of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Nurses Working in Surgical Intensive Care Units on the Use of Physical Restraint: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Research on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nurses working in surgical intensive care units regarding the use of physical restraints is limited. Objective: This study aimed to assess nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding physical restraint use in surgical intensive care units (S-ICUs). Method: The research, a descriptive cross-sectional study, involved nurses from three hospitals’ surgical intensive care units between March 15th and June 15th, 2022, with a total of 73 voluntarily participating nurses (n=73). Data were gathered using the Physical Restraint Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Scale via face-to-face surveys. In the analysis of the data, independent t tests and one-way ANOVA were used. The post hoc Tukey HSD test was utilized to determine the variables contributing to the differences. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant, and the study’s reporting adhered to the STROBE checklist. Results: The participating nurses had a mean age of 32.08±6.91 years, with 61.6% being female and 68.5% having undergraduate degrees. The total scale score was 76.86±6.58, with subdimension scores for knowledge, attitude, and practice at 7.09±1.49, 32.52±4.5, and 37.24±3.30, respectively. Nurses working ≤61 hours per week had lower scores in physical restraint attitude and practice (p=.001 for both), and there was a significant negative correlation between nurses’ weekly working hours and their physical restraint attitude and practice scores (r=.746 and r=.734, respectively) (p<.05). Conclusion: Nurses displayed shortcomings in knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to physical restraint use. It has been determined that nurses do not consistently document the physical restraint, do not always implement it solely based on physician directives, and do not always resort to alternative methods. Knowledge scores were linked to S-ICU work experience, while attitude and practice scores were influenced by weekly working hours.