Physical Restraint scenario

Please discuss the limitations and legal ramifications of the use of restraint in the following scenarios:

(1-2 sentences for each scenario)

A) Physical Restraint

A resident with dementia and an inability to weight bear is a fall risk.  When they are in a wheelchair, the authorized use of ‘safety/ seat belts’ reduces their fall risk.  The nurse caring for this resident has returned them to a visible location in the common room after taking the resident to the toilet.  The seat belts have not been reattached correctly.  The resident has now attempted to stand, and suffered a fall.
What legal consequences could occur in this scenario?

 

B) Chemical Restraint

Your resident with dementia is a wanderer, and this causes some frustration for the nursing staff during busy time periods.  A suggestion is made by another nurse to ask the doctor to prescribe medication to keep them quite and stop them from wandering.

What legal consequences would this action create?

 

C) Psychological Restraint

You have overheard a nurse shouting at a resident in the shower, and threaten a patient if they don’t do what the nurse is asking them.  The  nurse is trying to coerce the resident to be co-operative and control their behavior . The resident is now crying and afraid to leave her room, because the other nurse has told her she must stay there.

Explain the legal consequences in the scenario.