Im Spannungsfeld zwischen «safety first» und «patient first»: Freiheitseinschränkende Massnahmen im Akutspital.

In the case of behavior that is dangerous to oneself or others, coercive measures may be unavoidable in order to protect the well-being and interests of the persons concerned and involved. Available ethical and legal guidelines provide only person-related reasons to justify coercive measures. In practice, however, context-related reasons also play a role. Against this background, our article shows the field of tension between legal guidelines, ethical orientations and clinical practice in the context of a Swiss university hospital. We describe strategies for dealing with this field of tension. Raising the awareness of professionals regarding the exceptional nature of coercive measures is pivotal. Additionally, the transparency of the decision-making process and the comprehensibility of the documentation and evaluation are key to safeguard the person's interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]