The Necessity of Patient Restraint
In some cases, nurses must restrain patients, under physician orders and for self-defense, patient welfare, and defense of other patients. This is especially common in nursing homes and other clinical settings serving dementia patients. Otherwise, without humane restraint, dementia patients might walk away, harm themselves, or harm others on the ward.
Psychiatric wards serving suicidal, homicidal, or paranoid schizophrenic patients are another place where nurses may have to restrain patients in beds, rooms, traction, or other limiting but humane restraints, authorized by physicians and according to nursing and other standards. Even certain pediatric wards may require nurses to restrain critically injured or ill children who are otherwise unable or unwilling to comply with critical medical regimens.
The Misconduct Risk of Patient Restraint
Nurses required to restrain patients face more than just the risks of patient injury, nurse injury, or the injury of others whom the physicians ordering the restraints intended the restraints to protect. When restrained patients aggressively resist, the restraints may cause suffering or injury, which can lead to complaints from the patient, mislabeling the restraint as nurse abuse or neglect.
Family members may also complain unfairly of nursing misconduct, when they fail to understand and appreciate the necessity of humane restraint. Hero nurses who are only helping the patients and helping others, while complying with doctor’s orders and nursing standards, can easily become targets of disciplinary proceedings. Abuse and neglect charges simply for humane restraints are a terribly difficult situation for a nurse to face.
The Regulatory Grounds for Misconduct Charges
Nurses facing abuse and neglect allegations for patient restraints should make no mistake: nursing standards authorize state boards of nursing to discipline nurses who unduly restrain patients in violation of nursing standards. You could lose your nursing license, employment, and practice due to misconduct charges against your nursing license. Nursing standards in states across the nation, like New York, Texas, and California, prohibit not only abuse and neglect generally but also undue or improper restraint specifically.
Defending Patient Restraint Misconduct Allegations
Fortunately, though, constitutional rights generally require state boards of nursing to provide due process before revoking or suspending a nurse’s license. Due process requires not only fair notice of the allegations against you but also a fair hearing before an independent decision maker, where your retained attorneys can present your evidence exonerating you from the charges or mitigating any penalty.
Our highly skilled and experienced professional license defense services can be exactly what you need for your best outcome. Our attorneys can appear on your behalf, answer the allegations with your legal defenses and best defense evidence, and negotiate and advocate through conciliation conferences, formal hearings, administrative appeals, and court litigation if necessary. Nursing license administrative procedures are complex. Get our highly qualified representation for your best outcome.
Premier Representation Available
Know all that you have at stake in a professional license proceeding. Don’t risk your nursing career with unqualified counsel. Our offices across the country offer you the best available attorneys for administrative licensing defense. Retain the LLG National Law Group’s premier attorneys to fight your nursing misconduct charges alleging inappropriate patient restraint. Call 833.536.8652 now for the representation you need for your best outcome.