Can minimal patient restraint be safely implemented in the intensive care unit?

The introduction of a corporate policy on the minimal use of restraints created concern within our intensive care unit. It was thought that corporate leaders did not understand the necessity of patient restraints within critical care. In an effort to make a stand against the developing policy, a group of critical care nurses reviewed the literature for evidence to support the use of restraints\with this patient population. The evidence that was found surprised the group and created the impetus to construct tools and a learning package to support minimal restraint within the intensive care unit. The results after one year demonstrate that minimal restraint practices can be safely implemented in intensive care using a comprehensive program; a program that effects a paradigm shift from caregiver paternalism to one that supports the patient's dignity of risk.