Background:

The adult inpatient psychiatric care is regulated by law and allows certain amount of coercion, most commonly restraint, forced medication and seclusion. To be treated according to this law you need to suffer from a serious mental disorder, oppose to the care and have an indispensable need of care. Many studies describe patients experiences to be treated with coercion but few about health care workers experiences.

Aim:

To describe health care workers experiences of performing coercion in psychiatric compulsory care.

Method:

A literature review was made and eight articles is the basis for the result.

Results:

From the articles used inthis study four themes were created. These are coercions impact on relations, health care workers feelings during coercion, coercion as a necessary evil and health care workers need for reflection. The themes are presented as headlines in the result.

Conclusion:

To use coercive measures brings out many different feelings among health care workers. There are both positive and negative aspects about coercive measures, but not enough support and time for reflection for the health care workers that execute them. The health care workers needto be acknowledged and feel that they have made the right decision and that they used coercion as a last resort. The result shows that there is a need for reflection and support among health care workers.