Effectiveness of Self-Instructional Manual on the Knowledge of Staff Nurses Regarding Restraints among Psychiatric Patients at Selected Hospitals Bangalore

Abstract

This research aimed to assess how effective a self-instructional manual is in enhancing the knowledge of staff nurses about the use of restraints in psychiatric care. Conducted at Spandana Hospital, Bangalore, the study followed a one-group pre-test and post-test design, involving 50 staff nurses selected through convenience sampling. Data was gathered using a structured questionnaire focused on nurses' knowledge related to restraints used on psychiatric patients. Initially, a pre-test was administered, after which the participants received the self-instructional manual. A post-test was conducted seven days later using the same questionnaire to measure any changes in knowledge. The average knowledge score before the intervention was 48.42%, which increased to 72.94% after the manual was introduced, indicating a 24.52% improvement. A paired ‘t’ test confirmed that this increase was statistically significant at the 5% level, demonstrating a notable improvement in knowledge across all measured areas. However, the study found no significant correlation between pre-test scores and demographic variables such as age, gender, religion, education, family type, income, or work experience. Overall, the findings highlight that the self-instructional manual effectively enhanced staff nurses' understanding of the appropriate use of restraints in psychiatric settings.