You are an administrator in an adolescent inpatient psychiatric hospital

You are an administrator in an adolescent inpatient psychiatric hospital. You are concerned about a recent increase in the use of physical restraints in the hospital. You also notice an increased use of sedating medications. You have not had any recent changes in staffing or patient mix and acuity.

• How might you assess this situation?

• Where might you find the data in your hospital to support your concern?

• What type of study could you perform to identify the cause(s) for the increase in both physical and chemical restraint usage?

• How will you select your population of study?

• How will you select a control group or comparison group?

• What are potential errors in measurement that you may encounter?