Medical personnel’s opinions on difficulties in applying measures of coercion – a research report (part 2)

Introduction: The objective of this research was to identify legal and practical challenges in the application of means of coercion based on the opinions of medical staff.Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an original survey questionnaire among 205 medical staff (nurses and doctors) from 3 hospitals in Poland in 2019–2020.Results: The vast majority of survey participants found the use of coercion in their workplace to be challenging (38% always difficult, 51% sometimes difficult). Immobilization was identified as the most difficult measure to apply (45.86%). The majority of respondents rated the preparation for the use of coercion in their workplace as “poor,” “very poor,” or nonexistent in terms of procedures, personnel numbers, training, and equipment (with ratings ranging from 60–90%). Most respondents expressed a desire for more frequent cooperation with external institutions. Among the socio-demographic variables analyzed, only age was significantly associated with difficulty in using coercive measures, with older participants (M = 50.00 years) reporting more difficulty.Conclusions: The respondents generally applied coercion in accordance with Polish legislation, though several difficulties were noted in practice. These challenges may be due to shortcomings in workplace preparation for the use of coercion or inadequate cooperation with external institutions. Consequently, medical staff may resort to coercive measures that are not ideally suited to the patient but are feasible to apply. The greater difficulty reported by older respondents may reflect a higher awareness of practical issues in applying coercion. There is an urgent need to align legal requirements with practical realities, ensuring adequate funding for services.