The impact of patient suicide on mental health nurses
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Other Title
Authors
Cross, Kerry
Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)
Degree
Master of Nursing
Grantor
Eastern Institute of Technology
Date
2015
Supervisors
Papps, Elaine
Woods, Toni
Woods, Toni
Type
Masters Thesis
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
New Zealand
mental health nurses
patient suicide
experience
impacts
support
surveys
mental health nurses
patient suicide
experience
impacts
support
surveys
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Cross, K. (2015). The impact of patient suicide on mental health nurses. (Unpublished document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Nursing). Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), New Zealand.
Abstract
The aim of this research was to gain knowledge of individual nurses’ experience of a patient suicide and ascertain if this had an impact on them or their practice. The purpose of this research was to ensure mental health nurses are aware of supports available to them as health professionals after a patient takes their own life. The objectives of this study included determining if a patient suicide had an impact on mental health nurses, what support was offered to them and what was beneficial, or what support could potentially be useful after a patient suicide.
This research project sought to determine if there is an impact on mental health nurses when a patient dies by suicide and what support is available, using a descriptive survey methodology. Data was collected using a questionnaire developed specifically to ascertain if there was an impact on mental health nurses after a completed patient suicide, and what support participants found most useful. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis, with thematic analysis applied to the free text answers providing qualitative data with emerging themes.
With the use of the Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R) and its correlation to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, this study shows a negative impact on mental health nurses within the intrusion subscale of the criteria for PTSD. Of the 58 eligible participants who completed this survey, 38% (n=22) scored more than 25 on the 88-point IES-R scale, indicating a group at high risk of experiencing PTSD. Themes emerged from free text answers determining immediate and on-going peer support was found by the participants of this study to be the most beneficial, ‘what the nurse needs’ was considered to be the most useful support.
This study highlights that mental health nurses, if not adequately supported after experiencing a patient suicide, have the potential to develop symptomology that correlates to criteria defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition (DSM-IV) for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
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