Olajide Ajetunmobi, MBBS, MRCPsych, is specialist registrar in psychiatry, Brandon Mental Health Unit, Leicestershire and Rutland Healthcare NHS Trust

Under section 5(4) of the 1983 Mental Health Act, psychiatric nurses have the power to detain psychiatric inpatients who are liable to harm themselves or others. Although nurses generally

agree on the usefulness of this power, studies have found that they rarely use it.