59-29b77. Restraints; seclusion.
59-29b77
59-29b77. Restraints; seclusion.(a) Restraints or seclusion shall not be applied to a patientunless it is determined by the head of the treatment facility ora physician or psychologist to be necessary to prevent immediatesubstantial bodily injury to the patient or others and that otheralternative methods to prevent such injury are not sufficient toaccomplish this purpose. Restraint or seclusion shall never beused as a punishment or for the convenience of staff. The extentof the restraint or seclusion applied to the patient shall be theleast restrictive measure necessary to prevent such injury to thepatient or others, and the use of restraint or seclusion in atreatment facility shall not exceed 3 hours without medicalreevaluation, except that such medical reevaluation shall not berequired, unless necessary, between the hours of 12:00 midnightand 8:00 a.m. When restraints or seclusion are applied, thereshall be monitoring of the patient's condition at a frequencydetermined by the treating physician or psychologist, which shallbe no less than once per each 15 minutes. The head of thetreatment facility or a physician or psychologist shall sign astatement explaining the treatment necessity for the use of anyrestraint or seclusion and shall make such statement a part ofthe permanent treatment record of the patient.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall not prevent,for a period not exceeding 2 hours without review and approvalthereof by the head of the treatment facility or a physician orpsychologist:
(1) The use of such restraints as necessary for a patientwho is likely to cause physical injury to self or others withoutthe use of such restraints;
(2) the use of restraints when needed primarily forexamination or treatment or to insure the healing process; or
(3) the use of seclusion as part of a treatmentmethodology that calls for time out when the patient is refusingto participate in a treatment or has become disruptive of atreatment process.
(c) "Restraints" means the application of any devices,other than human force alone, to any part of the body of thepatient for the purpose of preventing the patient from causinginjury to self or others.
(d) "Seclusion" means the placement of a patient, alone,in a room, where the patient's freedom to leave is restricted andwhere the patient is not under continuous observation.
History: L. 1998, ch. 134, § 31; July 1.