Citation

Granek L, Nakash O, Shapira S, Ariad S, Ben-David MA. J. Psychosoc. Oncol. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Radiation Oncology, Assuta Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/07347332.2020.1755763

PMID

32342799

Abstract

Objective: To explore how oncology healthcare workers' (HCPs) personal experiences with suicide impacts their practice with cancer patients.Design: The study was designed using Grounded Theory strategies in data collection and analysis.Participants: Eighteen social workers, 23 oncologists, and 20 nurses, participated in the research.Methods: Themes emerged from systematic line-by-line coding of the interview transcripts.Findings: HCPs reported that personal experiences with suicide: impacted the way they communicated with patients about suicide; made them vigilant about signs of suicidality; and made them aware of specific indicators of this distress.Conclusions: HCPs drew a direct line between their experiences with suicide to the ways in which they care for their patients.Implications: Increasing HCP awareness of these issues alongside training using evidence-based guidelines for identifying and responding to suicide risk in patients will ensure providing the best quality of care for patients.

Language: en

Keywords

nurses; oncologists; oncology; qualitative research; social workers; suicide