All Restrained Patients Are Not the Same.

Abstract

This commentary offers a critique of the public health approach to hospital restraints proposed by Coyne and McDougall. While acknowledging the merits of their model, specifically its emphasis on protecting third parties, this commentary emphasizes that an ethical assessment of restraint is too complex to be situated on a single-axis continuum. Rather, a multidimensional approach is required that includes specific vulnerabilities of particular patients, the precise nature of the restraints being used, and the duration of their implementation.