Any manual method or physical or chemical device, material or equipment attached or adjacent to a resident's body that the individual cannot remove easily which restricts freedom of movement or normal access to one's body. Nursing facility residents have the right to be free from ANY physical restraints imposed for discipline or convenience and not required to treat the resident's medical symptoms. Everyday restraining devices, vests, belts, mitts, jackets and others, are used on as many as 500,000 frail aged and disabled persons. These devices are intended to protect them from falls and other accidents. But they also cause injuries and accidents, many even fatal ones.
Restraints are accident hazards that increase the chance of serious injuries and death.
Experts estimate that as many as 200 people die each year because they strangle or suffocate in restraints even if the device is applied correctly. Providers have been successfully sued for these injuries and deaths. Other known harm associated with the use of restraints include avoidable decline in ability to walk, decrease muscle tone, contracture, increased chance of pressure sores and infections, delirium, agitation, behavioral symptoms, confusion, depression, constipation and incontinence. A combination of a more realistic appraisal of the legal risks, federal regulatory mandates, enhanced provider awareness, leadership by professional, trade and advocacy organizations and the fact that many long term care providers have successfully eliminated physical restraints from their facilities is changing the professional and, hence, the legal standard of care. See, Kapp, M., Nursing Home Restraints and Legal Liability, J. Legal Med.