Updated Position & Standards of Practice: The Use of Seclusion and Restraint

A Sustained Commitment to Reducing, with the Aspiration of Eliminating, the Use of Seclusion and Restraint
Revised APNA Position Paper and Standards of Practice Now Available

A pillar of psychiatric-mental health nursing is cultivating treatment environments that are safe, person-centered, and non-coercive. For more than 20 years, the APNA Position Paper and APNA Standards of Practice on the use of seclusion and restraint have articulated psychiatric-mental health nursing’s goal to continually reduce, with the aspiration of altogether eliminating, this practice.

A task force of experts has drawn on the best available evidence to revise and update these seminal resources, which were recently approved by the APNA Board of Directors:

• APNA Position on the Use of Seclusion and Restraint

• APNA Standards of Practice: Seclusion and Restraint

The updates made to these resources reflect current understanding of best practices in language, the use of evidence based tools, and the importance of effective administrative and clinical structures, processes, and resources as they relate to this topic.