Home healthcare nurses' knowledge and attitudes towards suicide

Evaluation of an Educational Intervention for Clinicians on Self-Harm in Older Adults

Clinicians may lack knowledge and confidence regarding self-harm in older adults and hold attitudes that interfere with delivering effective care. A 1-hour educational intervention for hospital-based clinicians and general practitioners (GPs) was developed, delivered, and evaluated. Of 119 multidisciplinary clinicians working in aged care and mental health at two hospitals, 100 completed pre/post-evaluation questions. There were significant improvements in knowledge, confidence in managing, and attitudes regarding self-harm in late life, and the education was rated as likely to change clinical practice. No GP education sessions could be conducted. A brief educational intervention had immediate positive impacts for hospital-based clinicians albeit with high baseline knowledge. The sustainability of these effects and effectiveness of the intervention for GPs warrant examination.

Depression and Suicide: Assessment and Intervention

Despite the ever increasing numbers of older persons in the home health care system, often those who are suffering from a depression are not treated adequately. This article presents a case study to illustrate assessment, identification of risk factors, and interventions aimed at preventing suicide, a lethal outcome of untreated depression. Once detected, depression can be effectively treated. Nurses are vital in their role as educators and counselors in treating depression and promoting improved functioning for older persons.

[Awareness and attitude toward suicide in community mental health professionals and hospital workers]

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to evaluate community mental health professionals and hospital workers attitude and awareness towards suicide.

METHODS

This study investigated 264 community mental health professionals and 228 hospital workers. SOQs (Suicidal Opinion Questionnaires) were used from July 2007 to September 2007. After a factor analysis for the attitude towards suicide, the items on ethics, mental illness, religion, risk, and motivation were included in the subsequent analysis.

RESULTS

There were significant differences in the attitude towards suicide according to religion, age, educational background, the marriage status, the economic position, and different professional licenses. Hospital workers' view was different from the community workers'. The hospital workers judged that suicide was due to mental illness, and suicide was high for the people in a special environment and who lacked motivation, which caused them to fall in a dangerous situation. For the lower educational group, they thought that suicide was attributable to mental illness. The awareness for suicide was significantly higher in the group with a postgraduate education, unmarried people, mental health professionals and the persons who had concern and experience with suicide. The factors that had an influence on the awareness of suicide were the items of mental illness, religion, risk and motivational factors.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggested that the factors to increase the awareness and attitude for suicide were the experience of increased education and case management of suicide. Therefore, education dealing with suicide and reinforcement of crisis management programs should be developed.

The attitudes of casualty nurses in Taiwan to patients who have attempted suicide

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims of this study were to investigate a sample group of casualty nurses' attitudes towards patients who have attempted suicide in the middle of Taiwan and to identify factors contributing to their attitudes towards attempted suicide.

DESIGN

A quantitative study using a questionnaire containing 22 statements with a five-point Likert-type scale was developed from the Domino's Suicide Opinion Questionnaire, and from a comprehensive analysis of research literature on the area of attitudes towards suicide.

METHODS

The questionnaire was distributed to casualty nurses (n = 155) to investigate their attitudes toward patients who have attempted suicide. Seven large hospitals in the middle of Taiwan were targeted.

RESULTS

This sample group of casualty nurses from the middle of Taiwan held positive attitudes toward patients who have attempted suicide. In addition, three statistically significant differences were identified: (i) The higher the level of nursing education the more positive the nurses' attitudes towards patients who had attempted suicide. (ii) The casualty nurses who did not have a religion held more positive attitudes towards suicidal behaviour than those who followed a religion. (3) Casualty nurses who had suicide care experience with 1-10 patients had more positive attitudes towards suicidal patients than nurses who had nursed above 10 patients who had attempted suicide.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicated that casualty nurses in Taiwan require further education on and training in all aspects of suicide to foster more positive attitudes towards patients who attempt suicide.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The role of casualty nurses is pivotal to the front-line care of people who are suicidal and their attitudes play a major part in the provision of effective care.

Patients and nurses' perceptions of ward environmental factors and support systems in the care of suicidal patients

AIMS

The aims of this paper are to present and discuss the findings that emerged from a qualitative study exploring nurses and patients' views of the acute psychiatric ward (the context) and the type of care received (the intervening conditions).

BACKGROUND

The phenomenon of suicide and the nursing care of people who are suicidal have previously been investigated. However, literature demonstrates that there is a dearth of information exploring the importance of the ward context in the care of suicidal patients and the intervening conditions that are used by professionals in the care of suicidal patients.

METHOD

Qualitative research using the grounded theory approach.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Fifteen patients who had either suicidal ideas or had attempted suicide and 15 psychiatric nurses were interviewed and observed. Data were analysed using open, axial and selective coding.

FINDINGS

A substantive theory of suicide-nursing care was developed. For the purpose of this paper, the two categories that emerged in the 'context' element of the paradigm model are explored. They were: team working and the psychiatric ward environment. In addition, the four categories from the 'intervening conditions' are discussed. They were: nurses' attitudes and beliefs have an effect on caring, barriers to caring, patients' negative thoughts and feelings about the care provided and support systems.

CONCLUSION

The findings indicated that the context of the ward environment and the intervening conditions used by nurses in the nursing care of suicidal patients helped to define some of the complex dynamics that impacted on the development of a therapeutic relationship within the practice of suicide-nursing care. Relevance to clinical practice. Environmental factors as well as the nurses' knowledge and skills and the type of support patients receive impact on the care of suicidal patients. These findings could help to enhance and advance suicide-nursing care.

Belief in the inevitability of suicide: results from a national survey

To examine public opinion regarding the effectiveness of means restriction as an approach to preventing suicide we asked a national sample of 2,770 respondents a hypothetical question about what effect a suicide barrier might have had on the ultimate fate of the more than 1,000 people who have jumped to their death from the Golden Gate Bridge. Thirty-four percent of respondents believed that every single jumper would have found another way to complete suicide and an additional 40% believed that "most" would have completed suicide using other means. The strongest predictors of belief in complete substitution were firearm ownership and cigarette smoking. Belief in the inevitability of suicide may be a political impediment to adopting potentially effective suicide prevention efforts.