I often teach student nurses about suicide prevention and how it is everybody’s business. Something not every nurse thinks about  in the busy working day but it is not just mental health nurses who need to be alert when people are feeling suicidal.  It is also an important part of of compassionate nursing practice as we try to find out what a person needs to not only stay well but also to stay safe.  The most likely place for people to be identified as feeling suicidal is on acute medical wards as people come to terms with a diagnosis of a long term condition, or in the accident and emergency department (A&E) when people are in a great deal of distress and feel unable to cope with every day living. It would be very difficult  to explain how nurses can help people to stay safe here  but if my simple model of compassion can be remembered it can help a busy nurse check out those gut instincts that we often get but never act on.   (See Shonin et al ( 2017) paper on the evidence page of this site to read how compassion can help people to manage and improve their health status).

Model of Compassionate Care

See ME  (Universality) – Remember to check out with the person what their goals are and explain what your goals are so that you can find a common ground. In this situation it could simply be keeping someone safe so you can offer them telephone numbers or support websites. Or you may need to call for the psychiatric liaison team if you need a more in-depth assessment.   It is your knowledge of health and nursing care that will help you decide the best action to take once you have established your universal goals.

Hear ME (Diversity) – Never assume that you know what people need, always ask and find out if you can help them to meet their needs or if they need further treatment or interventions. It is really important not to assume that people are “not really” suicidal, as this can make them feel even more helpess than they already do. Feeling helpless and alone is a key factor in suicide risk.  See the World Health Organisation website for more information on preventing suicide. Being empathetic towards another person demonstrates that you understand what they are going through and how they might be feeling, without patronising them or making them feel shameful.

Help ME (Recovery) – As nurses we must always help people to recover or learn to self manage a long term condition. Long term conditions are a known risk factor in suicide prevention as people struggle with their day to day life. Finding out how we can help people to manage better may prevent someone attempting suicide again. Being sympathetic towards how people are feeling  and coping will demonstrate hope that they will recover to some extent, once they are able to manage their condition better. Providing hope is a really important part of compassionate care when people may be feeling quite hopeless.

Suicde prevention is something that we tend to learn on the job.  It is not a diagnosis but a symptom of so many conditions  and situations that it must be everybody’s business. Taking a compassionate approach helps us to help other to be more self compassionate, by showing them that we care about their health and really do want to help them to recover.  Florence Nightingale (1860)  in her Notes on Nursing  insists that the main role of the nurse is not to cure people, but to create the right condtions so that they can heal themselves.  This is as true today as it was then.