Collaborative assessment and management of suicidality in an inpatient setting: results of a pilot study

Competency-based training for PMH nurse generalists: inpatient intervention and prevention of suicide

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. Approximately 90,000 psychiatric mental health (PMH) nurse generalists work in hospitals in the United States, mostly on inpatient psychiatric units where the most acutely suicidal patients are hospitalized. Although competencies have been developed for mental health clinicians in assessing and managing suicide risk, there are no standard competencies for PMH nurse generalists. Widely accepted nursing practices do not meet suicide-specific standards of care or evidence-based criteria. Although both the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education Essentials for Baccalaureate Education and the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses competencies stress the necessity for comprehensive assessment, safe clinical practices, patient-centered care, evidence-based interventions, and interprofessional communication and collaboration, there are no specific requirements for suicide prevention training in educational and clinical programs. The American Psychiatric Nurses Association has an opportunity to provide leadership in developing, implementing, and evaluating competency-based training for nurses and partner with the national effort to increase the competencies in suicide prevention in the behavioral health workforce.

Suicide Risk Assessment Training for Psychology Doctoral Programs: Core Competencies and a Framework for Training

Clinical and counseling psychology programs currently lack adequate evidence-based competency goals and training in suicide risk assessment. To begin to address this problem, this article proposes core competencies and an integrated training framework that can form the basis for training and research in this area. First, we evaluate the extent to which current training is effective in preparing trainees for suicide risk assessment. Within this discussion, sample and methodological issues are reviewed. Second, as an extension of these methodological training issues, we integrate empirically- and expert-derived suicide risk assessment competencies from several sources with the goal of streamlining core competencies for training purposes. Finally, a framework for suicide risk assessment training is outlined. The approach employs Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) methodology, an approach commonly utilized in medical competency training. The training modality also proposes the Suicide Competency Assessment Form (SCAF), a training tool evaluating self- and observer-ratings of trainee core competencies. The training framework and SCAF are ripe for empirical evaluation and potential training implementation.

Assessing and treating different suicidal states in a danish outpatient sample

The studies presented compare two methodologies for categorizing suicidal patients based on clinical data. Discussion follows regarding implications for risk assessment and treatment. In these studies, 52 outpatient subjects were placed into different groups based on coding their "suicidal motivation" (Study 1) and their "internal struggle" ratings (Study 2) using data collected at intake. Self-report ratings of 6 Suicide Status Form (SSF) Core Constructs (Psychological Pain, Stress, Agitation, Hopelessness, Self-Hate, and Overall Risk of Suicide) recorded both at intake and at completion of treatment were then compared to determine differences in Core Construct ratings among groups at different time points. In Study 1, overall differences among motivation groups (Life-motivated, Ambivalent, and Death-motivated) were significant for ratings at treatment completion of Overall Risk of Suicide, Self-Hate, and Psychological Pain. In Study 2, overall differences among groups (Wish to live, Ambivalent, and Wish to die) were significant for ratings at intake of Overall Risk of Suicide. At completion of treatment, overall differences among groups were significant for ratings of Overall Risk of Suicide, Hopelessness, and Self-Hate. In addition, significant interactions were found between test time and group for Overall Risk of Suicide and Self-Hate. Results suggest that categorizing suicidal patients by motivation and by the nature of their internal struggle could be beneficial to differential risk assessment with implications for clinical treatment.

The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS): an evolving evidence-based clinical approach to suicidal risk

The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) is an evidence-based clinical intervention that has significantly evolved over 25 years of clinical research. CAMS is best understood as a therapeutic framework that emphasizes a unique collaborative assessment and treatment planning process between the suicidal patient and clinician. This process is designed to enhance the therapeutic alliance and increase treatment motivation in the suicidal patient. Central to the CAMS approach is the use of the Suicide Status Form (SSF), which is a multipurpose clinical assessment, treatment planning, tracking, and outcome tool. The original development of CAMS was largely rooted in SSF-based quantitative and qualitative assessment of suicidal risk. As this line of research progressed, CAMS emerged as a problem-focused clinical intervention that is designed to target and treat suicidal "drivers" and ultimately eliminate suicidal coping. To date, CAMS (and the clinical use of the SSF) has been supported by six published correlational studies and one randomized clinical trial (RCT). Currently, two well-powered RCTs are under way, and various new CAMS-related projects are also being pursued. The clinical and empirical evolution of CAMS-how it was developed and what are the next steps for this clinical approach-are described here.