Mental Health Nursing Report: Suicide Risk and Prevention Strategies

This report focuses on the role of nurses in identifying and supporting individuals at risk of suicide, particularly those with mental health issues. It emphasizes the importance of nurses assessing patient histories for risk factors such as previous suicide attempts, emotional disorders, and impulsivity. The report details specific interventions nurses can implement to prevent suicide, including direct communication with patients, creating safe environments, counseling programs, and removing potential hazards. Additionally, it highlights the necessity of immediate communication with healthcare professionals and collaborative safety planning. The report underscores the significance of showcasing the positive aspects of life to deter suicidal thoughts. The content of this report is provided by a student for publication on Desklib, a platform offering AI-based study tools for students.

Running head: NURSING AND MENTAL HEALTH
NURSING AND MENTAL HEALTH
Name of Student
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Author’s Note

1NURSING AND MENTAL HEALTH
How can nurses identify men at risk of suicide with mental issues?
Mental illness comprises of behaviors and thoughts of suicides, which usually occur at
high rates among the individuals with mental issues than the general population. Nurses play a
vital role in identifying the patients who are at high risk of suicides because of their mental issue.
The Nurses role in the prevention of suicide involves both patient and system level interventions,
as per the indication of the America Psychiatric nurses Association (APNA) (Bolster et al.,
2015). Nurses assess the patient histories to understand the factors of risks like history of suicide
attempt, impairment, stress, emotional disorder and impulsivity (Mezuk et al., 2014).
How can nurses support men attempting suicide?
Nurses by directly talking to the patients, “whether they are or want to harm themselves
or not?” supports them from attempting suicide. In order to avoid or prevent such suicidal
thoughts among the patients with mental issues, the nurses ensure safety in the environment by
developing different policies, protocols and practices (O’Connor et al., 2013). Nurses conduct
counseling programs for the patients, in order to prevent them from attempting suicide. Removal
of all kinds of patient’s possessions which might be a risk such as belts, telephone cords, pills,
extra bed sheets, sharps, intravenous tubing and all those things which might be useful for the
patient in attempting suicide. Nurses immediately contacts the patient’s healthcare professional
regarding the patient’s suicide thoughts, and collaborate with the other professionals in order to
make a safety plan for the patient (Montreuil et al., 2015). They try to show the bright side of life
to the patient so that they stop thinking about attempting suicide.

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References
Bolster, C., Holliday, C., Oneal, G., & Shaw, M. (2015). Suicide assessment and nurses: what
does the evidence show. Online journal of issues in nursing, 20(2).
Mezuk, B., Rock, A., Lohman, M. C., & Choi, M. (2014). Suicide risk in long‐term care
facilities: A systematic review. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 29(12),
1198-1211.
Montreuil, M., Butler, K. J., Stachura, M., & Pugnaire Gros, C. (2015). Exploring helpful
nursing care in pediatric mental health settings: The perceptions of children with suicide
risk factors and their parents. Issues in mental health nursing, 36(11), 849-859.
O’Connor, E., Gaynes, B., Burda, B. U., Williams, C., & Whitlock, E. P. (2013). Screening for
suicide risk in primary care.