| physical or mechanical device, material, or equipment attached or adjacent to a resident's body that the resident cannot remove easily and restricts freedom of movement or normal access to one's body. Devices used for positioning, including but not limited to bed rails, gait belts, and cushions, shall not be considered to be restraints for purposes of this Section.
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(b) Neither restraints nor confinements shall be employed for the purpose of punishment or for the convenience of any facility personnel. No restraints or confinements shall be employed except as ordered by a physician who documents the need for such restraints or confinements in the resident's clinical record. Each facility licensed under this Act must have a written policy to address the use of restraints and seclusion. The Department shall establish by rule the provisions that the policy must include, which, to the extent practicable, should be consistent with the requirements for participation in the federal Medicare program. Each policy shall include periodic review of the use of restraints.
(c) A restraint may be used only with the informed consent of the resident, the resident's guardian, or other authorized representative. A restraint may be used only for specific periods, if it is the least restrictive means necessary to attain and maintain the resident's highest practicable physical, mental or psychosocial well being, including brief periods of time to provide necessary life saving treatment. A restraint may be used only after consultation with appropriate health professionals, such as occupational or physical therapists, and a trial of less restrictive measures has led to the determination that the use of less restrictive measures would not attain or maintain the resident's highest practicable physical, mental or psychosocial well being. However, if the resident needs emergency care, restraints may be used for brief periods to permit medical treatment to proceed unless the facility has notice that the resident has previously made a valid refusal of the treatment in question.
(d) A restraint may be applied only by a person trained in the application of the particular type of restraint.
(e) Whenever a period of use of a restraint is initiated, the resident shall be advised of his or her right to have a person or organization of his or her choosing, including the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, notified of the use of the restraint. A recipient who is under guardianship may request that a person or organization of his or her choosing be notified of the restraint, whether or not the guardian approves the notice. If the resident so chooses, the facility shall make the notification within 24 hours, including any information about the period of time that the restraint is to be used. Whenever the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission is notified that a resident has been restrained, it shall contact the resident to determine the circumstances of the restraint and whether further action is warranted.
(f) Whenever a restraint is used on a resident whose primary mode of communication is sign language, the resident shall be permitted to have his or her hands free from restraint for brief periods each hour, except when this freedom may result in physical harm to the resident or others.
(g) The requirements of this Section are intended to control in any conflict with the requirements of Sections 1-126 and 2-108 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code.
(Source: P.A. 96-339, eff. 7-1-10.)
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