A quality improvement initiative was undertaken to reduce restraint use in 4 acute care hospitals within a single health system. A variety of initiatives and interventions were used including the following: implementation of multidisciplinary rounds on restrained patients, increased availability of restraint alternatives, development of unit-based restraint champions, and education of both staff and health care providers about restraints. The health care system has maintained a quarterly restraint prevalence rate of less than 2.26% with 1 variant.
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Emory University Hospital (Mss Cosper and Provine) and Emory University Hospital Midtown (Ms Morelock), Atlanta, Georgia.
Correspondence: Pam Cosper, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Emory University Hospital, 1364 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30322 (pam.cosper@emoryhealthcare.org).
* Deceased.
The authors acknowledge the contributions of Susan Shapiro, Lisa Tingle, Kristie Koch, and Brooke Kamke. They dedicate their work to their colleague, Becky Provine, who lost her life prior to the publication of this paper.
There are no disclosures or conflicts of interest to report.
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Accepted for publication: May 19, 2014
Published ahead of print: July 8, 2014
