Patient physical restriction practices and knowledge levels of intensive care nurses

Physical restraint is one of the widely used methods for patient safety in intensive care units. On the other hand physical restraint could do many physiological and physical harmsto the patients. In this study the relation between Intensive care nurses' knowledge level and their physical restraint practices is investigated. This descriptive and cross-sectional study conducted between August 2018-December 2018 in a government hospital in the city of Tekirdağ on the intense care nurses (n=83). Research data and nurses' demographic characteristics are collected with "Level of Knowledge Attitudes and Practices of Staff Regarding Physical Restraints Questionnaire". Statistical analysis of data is carried out with NCSS 2007. Arithmetic and percentage mean, Mann- Whitney U test, Kruskal- Wallis, Pearson correlation, Spearman correlation and Student- t test are used. We found out intensive care nurses took 8,2±1,8, from knowledge section of questionnaire, 36,5±3,8 from practises section and 37,7±4,3 from attitude section. There is no meaningful difference between nurses who took education on physical restraint and the ones who didn't. (p>0,05). While there is no meaningful difference with professional experience in years (p>0,05), there is a meaningful difference with the time spent in intensive care units. (p<0,05). There is a meaningful difference between intensive care unit and other departments. (p<0,05). That the Physical Restraint should be scientific bases, increasing trainings, developing legal regulations and alternative methods. Key words: Physical Restraint, Intensive Care, Nursing, Knowledge