Use of major and minor tranquilizers with older patients in an acute care hospital: an exploratory study.

Aim: This paper reports a study to determine how many older patients are prescribed major and/or minor tranquilizers during their hospital stay, and the perceptions of acute care nursing staff towards the use of such medications with older hospitalized patients.

Background: While considerable research exists on the use of major and minor tranquilizers (chemical restraints) with older people in long-term care, scant research has addressed the use of these drugs with older patients in acute care hospitals. Given the growing numbers of older people with dementia and delirium in hospitals, and the risks these drugs pose to older people, more research on the use of chemical restraints by nurses with older hospital patients is needed.