Psychiatric Nurses’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice Regarding Physical Restraint in China: A Multicentre Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Physical restraint is widely used in mental health services to address safety concerns. However, studies have shown that improper physical restraint can result in adverse effects. Nurses are the main practitioners of physical restraint and play a crucial role in physical restraint decisions and nursing. In China, there is a lack of large-scale investigations into the current status of psychiatric physical restraint use. AIM: This study aims to explore the situation and influencing factors of the psychiatric nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding physical restraint in China. METHODS: A cross-sectional multicenter descriptive study was conducted from December 2022 to February 2023, consecutively. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit 345 staff from three psychiatric hospitals in Shanghai. A psychiatric nurses’ physical restraint use status questionnaire was administered to examine their knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding physical restraint. The data were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U-test and the Kruskal–Wallis test. Multivariate linear stepwise regression analysis was used for multi-factor analysis. RESULTS: Overall, nurses had a good level of knowledge with positive attitudes and adequate practices. However, they had some misunderstandings and undesirable practices. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that educational background, position and training experience were the main factors influencing physical restraint knowledge, attitudes and practice among psychiatric nurses (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study highlights some important misconceptions and improper practices of psychiatric nurses about using physical restraint. It is necessary to strengthen education and training on physical restraint for nursing staff to reduce unnecessary physical restraint use.