Behavioral Health: Evaluation of the Suicidal Patient

Course overview

Hospital suicides have attracted the focus of several organizations, including The Joint Commission, which designated hospital suicide as a "sentinel event," and the National Quality Forum, which states that "patient suicide, attempted suicide, or self-harm resulting in serious disability, while being cared for in a healthcare facility" is a "never event" that is usually preventable. Currently there is no fail-safe system in place for healthcare providers to prevent every suicide, whether inpatient or outpatient. There are, however, strategies available to identify individuals at risk as they interface with the healthcare system and to intervene with the goal to prevent suicide. In this activity, we focus on the emergency evaluation of the suicidal patient. We define the challenges and arm practitioners with tools to identify and evaluate these patients. Actual case studies are presented to illustrate key principles of caring for suicidal patients. After completing this activity, practitioners should be able to: perform a proper medical assessment of suicidal patients; identify the high-risk factors for suicide during the evaluation of Emergency Department patients; and determine the most effective intervention(s) for patients in the Emergency Department who are high risk for completed suicide