Healthcare workers who employ physical restraints and seclusion when treating patients must undergo new, more rigorous training to ensure the appropriateness of the treatment and to protect patient rights, according to a final regulation issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The rule also allows trained registered nurses or physician assistants to conduct the patient evaluations required within an hour of a patient being restrained or secluded for violent or self-destructive behavior, provided the physician or other licensed independent practitioner treating that patient is consulted as soon as possible.
Under the new regulations, hospitals must provide the patient or family member with a formal notice of their rights at the time of admission, which include freedom from restraints and seclusion in any form when used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience for the staff, or retaliation. There are also stricter standards in reporting the death of a patient associated with the use of restraints and seclusion. The regulation becomes effective Feb. 6, 2007.
