The effect of empathy skills of psychiatric nurses on their attitudes and practices towards the use of physical restraint

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of empathy skills of psychiatric nurses on their attitudes and practices towards the use of physical restraint. Design and Methods: This cross-sectional, correlational, descriptive study included 100 nurses (88.49% of the population). Data were collected using a sociodemographic characteristics form, the empathy skills scale (ESS) form B, and the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of staff towards physical restraints questionnaire (KAPS-PR) were used. Findings: The total mean ESS score was found to be 152.34 +/- 24.44, indicating moderate empathy skills. Mean KAPS-PR scores were 29.54 +/- 4.43 for the attitude scale and 33.94 +/- 3.26 for the practice scale, indicating appropriate attitudes and ideal practices related to physical restraint, respectively. ESS score was significantly higher among nurses with higher educational levels (p = .001) and weakly correlated with KAPS-PR attitude score (r = .25; p < .05). Implications for Practice: Improving the empathy skills of psychiatric nurses could improve their attitudes towards physical restraint, thereby reducing its use.