Physical restraints: ethical and legal argumentation

Physical restraint is one of the most controversial methods in managing aggressive behaviors and maintaining patients’ safety. This manuscript purposed to convince stockholders and policymakers of the negative impact of physical restraint on patients’ psychological and physical health. The current authors review the ethical and legal underpinnings of the opponents’ and proponents’ views. On one hand, there is a clear violation of the main principles of the code of ethics. Autonomy and justice; as the patients are tied against their will and without obtaining their consent, non-maleficent; as physical restraints are reported in many cases of physical and psychological traumas, thus many agencies prohibited the use of physical restraints as a safety method to be replaced with other deescalating techniques. On the other hand, physical restraints are a precious method in controlling aggressive behaviors and maintaining patients’ safety, which is the selective beneficence in providing patient care. Also, most of the same agencies who prohibited the use of restraints, agreed the use of physical restraint as the last resort.