Objective To explore the current situation and influencing factors of physical restraint in private nursing home in Hunan Province, so as to make reference for standardizing physical restraint in private nursing home in our country. Methods A total of 814 elderly subjects were selected by stratified cluster random sampling method in 6 private nursing home in 3 regions of Hunan Province. The Physical Restraint Use Questionnaire, Daily Activity Ability Rating Scale, and Mini-mental State Evaluation were used to investigate the elderly in nursing home. Results The use rate of physical restraint was 23.8%. The frequency of physical restraint was the highest between 19:30 and 21:30 (51.6%). The common position of physical restraint was upper extremities (36.4%). The most common position was supine (48.2%). The common tool was restraint band (51.8%). Prior to the use of physical restraint, the consent of the elderly or their family members was obtained, but the homes had no record of the use of restraint. Regression analysis results showed that whether there was a dementia unit in the nursing home, the ratio of nursing staff to the elderly, the age of the elderly, education level, whether there was Alzheimer′s disease, daily activity ability, cognitive function, whether there was gastric tube, catheter and venous indignant needle were the main influencing factors for the use of physical restraint (all P<0.05). Conclusion The rate of use of physical restraint in private nursing home in Hunan Province is relatively high, and there are many cases of non-standard use. Nursing home and relevant management departments need to formulate more measures according to the current situation and influencing factors of the use of physical restraint, so as to reduce and standardize the use of physical restraint in private nursing home in China.