AN EXAMINATION OF ATTITUDES TOWARD AND THE REPORTED USE OF PHYSICAL RESTRAINTS AMONG NURSES EMPLOYED IN NURSING HOME SETTINGS.
Contributors: University of South Dakota.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 153
Subjects: Psychology, Clinical.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Gerontology.
Description: This study was designed to investigate nurses' attitudes regarding the use of physical restraints with older adults in nursing home settings, along with an examination of their actual usage. A sample of 162 RNs and LPNs from 35 skilled nursing homes throughout the state of South Dakota completed a six-part questionnaire composed of a demographic data form, the Attitudes Toward Old People Scale (Hogan, 1961), the Perceptions of Restraint Use Questionnaire (Strumpf & Evans, 1988), the Tedium Scale (Pines & Aronson, 1981), the Alternatives to Physical Restraints Checklist, and the Use of Physical Restraints Questionnaire. The main focus centered around providing descriptive and comparative data of the practices of these nurses working in rural and urban settings. More specifically, four primary variables were assessed across rural and urban settings: Nurses' compliance with OBRA's restricted restraint use regulations; Nurses' perceptions of restraint use; Nurses' attitudes toward older adults; and Nurses' professional burnout.

The results of this study indicate that physical restraints are still being used in nursing homes throughout the state of South Dakota. Whereas there is no way to discern whether or not there has been a reduction in the use since the OBRA regulations went into effect, there is clear evidence that there has not successfully been an elimination of restraints in these facilities.

Results supported the hypothesis that the more negative the nurses' attitudes toward older adults, the greater the acceptance of, but not necessarily the actual reported use of physical restraints. Contrary to the hypothesis, the present sample of nurses reported experiencing significantly lower overall levels of professional burnout than the normative sample of nurses. In addition, results suggested that nurses who reported experiencing higher levels of professional burnout tended to report experiencing lower levels of job satisfaction.

Findings suggested that nurses who felt that their facilities were adequately staffed with nurses aides/support staff and nurses tended to have more positive attitudes toward older adults, and tended to experience greater job satisfaction.

Implications for the findings are made along with directions for future investigations which assess why restraints are still used and in which specific circumstances nurses choose to restrain their patients.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-08, Section: B, page: 4381.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, 1992.

School code: 0203.