Nursing home caregivers’ views on dignity in restraining disabled residents

BackgroundCaregivers in nursing homes are crucial in looking after disabled older adults. They often resort to physical restraints for various reasons, including safety concerns and resource limitations. However, this practice can impact the dignity of these individuals. In China, current research has rarely explored this issue at the caregiver level, leaving a critical gap in our understanding of this complex situation.Research objectivesThe purpose was to understand Chinese nursing home caregivers' perceptions and practices of dignity maintenance for physically restrained disabled older adults, as well as to provide a reference point for dignity maintenance.Research designThis is a qualitative descriptive study in which data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed using Colaizzi's 7-step method.Participants and research contextBetween October and December 2024, 13 caregivers from three nursing homes in Wenzhou City, China, were selected for the study using purposive sampling.Ethical considerationsThe ethics committee approved the study design on December 4, 2020 (approval number 2020-126).ResultsA total of three main themes and 11 sub-themes were distilled. The main themes included "Diverse perspectives on dignity maintenance in physical restraint," "The realistic dilemma of dignity maintenance practices in physical restraint," and "The practice of physical restraint based on the principle of whole-person care."ConclusionsNursing home caregivers have multiple views of dignity maintenance for physically restrained disabled older adults, and there are numerous barriers to maintaining dignity. Measures should be taken to optimize dignity maintenance practices, improve the quality of older adult care services, maintain the dignity and rights of disabled older persons, reduce the pressure on caregivers, and enhance occupational satisfaction.