Disadvantages Of Chemical Restraints

In the medical field there is a never-ending variation of patients, but all patients can be broken into two main categories based off the mental cognitive ability. Those categories are cognitively impaired or aware, meaning that the patient is able to mentally process information with comprehension, judgement, and has control of emotions. Patients who are cognitively impaired have the exact opposite in various degrees. As we had spoken to Lisa Edwards a Certified Nursing Assistance in the state of Indiana for over seventeen years. Accepting awards such as perfect attendance and C.N.A of the month several times Lisa explains as a certified nursing assistant that she has used countless types of restraints chemical restraints, physical restraints …show more content…
Chemical restraints also called antipsychotics are medications given to a patient to control brain function. Claiming them down and helping them to relax. Unlike physical restraints they do not cause the patient mental distress of being tied down, something common in those who are physically restrained. Along with the lack of physical distress they also do not run a risk of pressure sores when using a chemical restraint. Pressure sores result from patients who are unable to move. It can be a small red area that does not go away when pressure is released by moving the patient all the way to a hole in the skin that allows the bone to be seen, this is only if gone unnoticed for long periods of time. Lastly several facilities choose chemical restraints for the reason that these are not reported to the Medicare report care unlike physical restraints. The concern about chemical restraints is that they are a medications not a device and like all medications they have side effects that come along with them. Dr. Carlson who is with the Department of Medicine-Endocrinology Division at Stony Brook Hospital and Dr. Correll who is with the Zucker Hillside Hospital and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine cover some of the side effects of using these medications in the metabolic and endocrine systems. Explaining that one of the most common side effects seen with these medications is weight loss, blood pressure rise and drops, changes in cholesterol level and triglyceride levels. Now some of these side effects at first sight appear as not so major, but those patients who are already in the hospital are there as a result of health issues and these side effects could be very serious. The other reason chemical restraints are a preferred method of restraint-free companies is due to companies being required by law to report the amount of physical