These all sound like terrible experiences to have had. My ward feels very different. There's quite a lot of talking used rather than restraints or anything like that. I've never seen anyone be restrained or the seclusion room used (though I know it has been very occasionally) and people often put themselves in the de-esc. when they know they need time to calm down.
A member of staff told me that she's worked on the ward for two and a half years and has only had to use C&R twice herself in that time. I've also never heard the panic alarm before, with the exception of a couple of mornings ago when someone accidentally pressed it looking for some linen.
Also, the hospital's pretty big on cleanliness so the toilets are cleaned at least twice a day by the domestics and the staff do checks for cleanliness every shift too, and the water checks to stop Legionnaires.
Not that it's always quiet or lacking in a bit of scary-ness on the ward (!), but I think generally they deal with it all well and use talking first, followed by medication, followed by the more intrusive forms of control I guess. A good thing is that the area I live in is quite small, so the staff move around teams every now and then, so staff on the ward you may well have known previously as members of the crisis team or something. It also means they get to know individual patients quite well so know what helps and what doesn't.
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