Background:

mechanical restraint is a practice widely used by nurses in hospitals. The use of mechanical restraint is associated with physical, psycological, legal and ethical problems.

Objectives:

to identify nurses knowledge and practice on mechanical restraint; Identify the social representation of mechanical restraint for nurses.

Methodology:

qualitative, exploratory study with a sample of 250 nurses who answered a questionnaire prepared in the Google Forms program. Data treatment and analysis was performed using the IRAMUTEQ Software.

Results:

more than half of the nurses do not know the General Direction of Health guidance on patient containment and few have specific training, although they often practice uneventfully. They often resort to techniques that prevent it. The analysis of similarities highlights in the textual corpus prevention, safety and immobilization, as thoughts of nurses. Safety takes center stage in thoughts related to the patient and sadness in feelings concerning the family.

Conclusion:

nurses often practice mechanical restraint for safety, but strive to avoid it. In this process, they value the feelings of family members more than those of patients.