PATIENTS can come round after an operation believing that today is October, that they are footsoldiers in Hannibal’s army or that any nurses in the vicinity are actually gun-toting Hell’s Angels. They can, in short, get a bit muddled.
It seems somewhat harsh, therefore, that theatre nurses could be looking at five years in prison if they temporarily restrain someone who, in a post-operative fug, is trying to pull out essential tubes.
But Nursing Times (June 21) says that under the terms of the new Mental Capacity Act, which comes into force in two years’ time and which will criminalise the ill-treatment of incapacitated people, this could well be the case. The Act will cover the temporarily incapacitated, such as people in recovery rooms.
Nursing Times quotes Kate Bray, a professional officer for the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN), who told delegates at a conference that any restraint used on patients should be proportionate to the risk they pose to themselves or staff.
Ms Bray says that protocols should be in place that dictate when the use of restraint is appropriate and that where possible an agreement should be drawn up with patients before they undergo surgery.
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But nurses should also be aware of underlying causes that may cause patients to become agitated, Ms Bray says, such as pain or under-sedation.
Last year, the BACCN published a position statement on the use of restraint, which is available on its website (www.baccn.org.uk).