• Serife Karagozoglu, Dilek Ozden, and Fatma Tok Yildiz.
• Division of Nursing, Department of Fundamentals of Nursing, Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Health Science, Sivas, Turkey. serifekaragozoglu@gmail.com
• Clin Nurse Spec. 2013 Sep 1; 27 (5): 262-71.

ObjectiveThis study was carried out to determine knowledge, attitudes, and practices of intern nurses who completed the nursing internship program on the use of physical restraints.DesignThis research was conducted using descriptive and cross-sectional research design.MethodsThe study sample comprises 91 fourth-grade students who took an integrated curriculum and completed the nursing internship program. The data were collected with the Demographic Characteristics Questionnaire and the Levels of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Staff Regarding Physical Restraints Questionnaire. For the assessment of the data, percentages, the arithmetic mean, and t test were used.ResultsThe findings indicated that, of the intern nurses, 95.6% observed the use of physical restraints during their education, and 69.2% applied physical restraints. The mean knowledge, attitude, and practice scores of the nurses for physical restraint were 9.38 ± 1.19 (0-11 points), 34.70 ± 5.62 (12-48 points), and 37.95 ± 2.32 (14-42 points), respectively.ConclusionsIntern nurses' knowledge about how to use physical restraints was at a very good level; they displayed positive attitudes, and they used their knowledge and attitudes in their practices to a great extent.ImplicationsAlthough there are studies on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nurses working in the fields of elderly care, rehabilitation, and psychiatry in acute care units, there are no studies investigating intern nurses and other nursing students. However, intern nurses about to begin their careers should make accurate decisions regarding the use of physical restrains if they are to ensure patient safety and to fulfill this application effectively in their professional lives.

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