The New York State Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

This course has been awarded 2.4 contact hours.

Suicide. Even the word evokes strong feelings. Suicide is defined by Webster as "the intentional taking of one's own life," or "self-murder." Suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the United States in 2000; it was the 8th leading cause of death in males and the 19th leading cause of death for females (NIMH, 2003). In 2000, there were twice as many deaths to suicide than to HIV/AIDS (NIMH, 2003). The National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP), a collaborative effort among the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) and Indian Health Service (IHS) estimates that every 18 minutes another life is lost to suicide (NSSP, 2003).

In the US in 2000, the total number of suicide deaths was 29,350 (NIMH, 2003); worldwide approximately 1 million people died by suicide (IOM, 2002). In 2000, suicide outnumbered homicides (16,765) by 5 to 3 in the US (NIMH, 2003). The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has estimated that there may be from 8 to 25 attempted suicides per every one suicide death. These alarming numbers of suicide deaths and attempts emphasize the need for carefully designed prevention efforts.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) (2002) identified that research over a 30-year period has confirmed the relationship between hopelessness and suicide across diagnoses. In acute care settings, where ill persons often receive discouraging health news, where pain is commonplace, where major life changes are thrust upon one, often without much preparation, feelings of hopelessness are not uncommon: the prospect of suicide is very real.

Nurses in almost every clinical setting encounter patients who may be suicidal. Research by Valente and Saunders (2000) revealed the difficulties that some nurses had in responding to suicidal patients. They cited that because of religious and other values, uncomfortable feelings, inadequate knowledge, personal experiences, and the weight of professional responsibility many nurses had difficulty caring effectively for suicidal patients.

© 2004 NYSNA, all rights reserved.

Course Objectives

At the completion of this learning activity the learner will be able to:

• Distinguish between levels of suicidality.

• Correct the erroneous myths that surround the topic of suicide.

• Identify factors that impact on nurses' ability to identify and assess suicidality.

• Discuss factors that impact on the rate of suicide among select populations.

• Identify risk factors for suicide as well as protective factors against suicide.

• Discuss elements of a suicide assessment.

• Review interventions that are useful in preventing suicide.

• Discuss treatment options.

• Identify legal implications.