38117 Suicide Assessment and Intervention: What Nurses Need to Know

Course overview

Discussion of modifiable risk factors, non-modifiable risk factors, and protective factors related to suicide; a nurse’s role in suicide assessment and intervention; treatment recommendations for individuals with suicidal ideation according to lesser, moderate and high risk; and common mistakes made when encountering a suicidal individual. Each year in the U.S., more than 44,000 people die by suicide, making suicide the tenth leading cause of death. Hospitalized psychiatric patients are at high risk for suicide, and the risk remains elevated immediately following release as well. Nurses have the ability to play a pivotal role in the assessment and management of individuals at risk for suicide. Clinical preventive services, including suicide assessment and preventive screening by primary care and other healthcare providers, are crucial to assessing suicide risk and connecting individuals at risk for suicide to available clinical services and other sources of care. The American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) has developed essential competencies in order to ensure that nurses are able to effectively assess for suicide risk, provide suicide specific psychotherapeutic interventions, monitor and supervise at-risk patients, and assess the outcomes of all interventions. In addition, one of the goals released in the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention is to provide training to community and clinical service providers on the prevention of suicide and related behaviors. This program discusses suicide assessment and intervention practices to enable nurses to become confident with the skillset needed when caring for these individuals.