Position Statement : The Use of Seclusion in Psychiatric Settings

This position statement is aimed to reduce psychiatric inpatient seclusion by improving nurses role and providing opponents and proponents legal overviews; this issue is one of the most controversial practices in psychiatric care according to legal perspective; the differences in legal supply make differences of using seclusion; patients who experience psychosis need management and control challenging behavior to contain this behavior; seclusion is used in psychiatric setting significantly and is the most important debatable issue in the psychiatric field; nurses must balance the responsibility for protecting patient rights with the duty to protect patients from harming themselves especially in situations that have escalated to the point of danger; there are suggestions for a course of action and possible solutions to movement action in reduction of seclusion included for clinical practice, staff training and education, research, and staffing and policy change parts, which increase the quality of care and to choose the best decision.