With the first debate right around the corner, I believe the subject of the debate would be a good one to start thinking about and discussing. The debate will be about if the use of chemical or physical restraints in Long Term Care facilities is acceptable or unacceptable. My opinion would vary case by case and depend on the situation the patient or their caretaker were in. If the patient was in a position to harm themself or anyone around them I would say it is acceptable, some patients in there mental condition need a little help to calm down. Ensuring patients physical safety is number one and if you can do this by using restraints I would say it is okay. I do believe that physical restraints should not be able to be choice of caretakers or nurses but should be taken to higher authority such as doctors approval first.
Other instances when it us used for discipline or at the caretakers convenience because they are lazy or fed up with dealing with the patients and they use chemical/physical restraints instead of taking their time to use other sources that are available such as words to see what is needed, it is highly unacceptable in those matters. Believe it or not there are alot of cases of abuse going on in Long Term Care facilities and this is the cause of many of them.
Although the use of restraints have decreased becuase of the Nursing Home Reform Act, 200 patients still die each year due to the use of restraints. Caretakers are being lazy and not taking the time to care for their patients. You have to have a big heart and care alot about people to do what they do and the people who cannot handle it should not be in the field. Overall I believe restraint are acceptable if people within the facility are using an ethical code of conduct by doing so.
Soures:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nursinghomeabuseresourcecenter.com/injured/restraints/images/i_photo.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.nursinghomeabuseresourcecenter.com/injured/restraints/index.html&usg=__xd_GVSoc8f-cJ0iOI7eIEqh-Ed8=&h=141&w=162&sz=20&hl=en&start=8&sig2=vy7NBvir-d5mgqphUo8xug&um=1&tbnid=qhXE7fyPgpcR4M:&tbnh=85&tbnw=98&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchemical%2Brestraints%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1&ei=kM-lSvO8B8iztgedqsybBQ
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ohiobarrister.com/images/restraint.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ohiobarrister.com/nursing%2520home%2520rights.htm&usg=__WJQK6oVht3nqQZE6XXeh2KaIGWk=&h=330&w=450&sz=26&hl=en&start=5&sig2=sQF7Y_zQM6EKUob-ihgUJg&um=1&tbnid=H6WTlTjHfN_JKM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnursing%2Bhome%2Brestraints%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1&ei=_AinSr6wKabQNIjgnbEP
http://www.allhealthcare.com/nfs/allhealthcare/attachment_images/0003/8260/facility_restraints_crop380w.jpg
