Risk for suicide nursing diagnosis and its related risk factors, in psychiatric settings: A descriptive study.
Babak Saatchi, Taraneh Taghavi Larijani
PMID 31660171WHAT IT FOUND
In 1,440 psychiatric nursing reports, suicide risk factors were documented 478 times, but the risk for suicide nursing diagnosis appeared only 10 times.
Key findings
01The risk for suicide nursing diagnosis was noted 10 times in 1,440 reviewed nursing reports.
02Related suicide risk factors were found 478 times, with behavioural 38% and social 32% of the categories.
03Hopelessness was the most common documented risk factor (N = 104), followed by history of suicide attempt (N = 90.82).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only nursing reports from one psychiatric hospital in Tehran were reviewed, so it may not reflect other settings. Only reports documented in 2017 were used, and no in-person observation or supervision of nurses was done. The study could not tell whether nurses recognised suicide risk but did not write the nursing diagnosis. It reports documentation frequencies from records, not patient outcomes or suicide events.
Declared interests
The authors stated no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the low use of the diagnosis proves nurses missed suicide risk. The study reviewed records only, did not observe nurses, and the authors note nurses may have identified risk but not documented it.