Long Term Care Restraints

Over the years, there has been various debates over how the elderly is being treated in long term care facilities. Each and every year the number of the elderly people living in the U.S continues to grow immensely and whether or not we have the right systems in place to deal with this overwhelming number of baby boomers remain questionable. This number is projected to continue to grow and it is important that the right care is provided and also that the elderly is properly taken care of as they make this transition. As the number of elderly people in long-term care facilities continue to increase, different and various issues arise. One of the many serious issues involved with the elderly in long-term care facilities is the use of chemical

While patients may benefit from restraints, they can also be harmful. There are various types of restraints, but the most common ones are physical and chemical restraints. Physical restraints are different from chemical restraints. Chemical restraints are psychoactive drugs given to a patient to potentially keep them from doing voluntary movement (Hoffman,2011). Restraints are used in various medical settings such as acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities. However, the Department of Health and Human Services reported that a majority percentage of the use of restraints on patients happen in a nursing home. Although there has been a decrease in the daily physical restraints used in nursing homes, however, in most nursing homes, restraints are fairly common. The use of physical restraints in long term care facilities or nursing homes is not something that is new. As a matter of fact, restraints have been used on the elderly in nursing homes dating back to the 1980’s. Before the year of 1990, the U.S Food and Drug Administration estimated that about 40 percent of patients of patients in nursing homes were restrained. (FDA

This act created a major revision of standards of care for nursing homes. This legislation also changed the expectations and the quality of care that patients should receive in long term care facilities. This Nursing Home Reform Act passed by congress specifically stated “that each residents have the right to be free from any physical or chemical restraints imposed for purposes of discipline or convenience and not required to treat the resident’s medical symptoms”. While there may be some benefits to using restraints in nursing homes, however, studies have shown that using restraints in nursing homes negatively impacts patients and for the most part does not prevent them from falling or from other incidents that may occur. There are very high levels of risks associated with the use of restraints (Lapane,150). The OBRA act has encouraged providers to use other alternatives and methods other than restraint because it has been proven to be quite harmful. There are various risked associated with restraints and of these risk include patients potentially patients even losing their lives. Because of the nature of the restraint on patients, patients sometimes end up losing muscle and bone density which then results to immobility and immobility itself results in loss of endurance and muscle strength (Lane 2008). When a patient has lost endurance and muscle strength, they have problems