Citation

Englund H. Emerg. Nurse 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, RCN Publishing)

DOI

10.7748/en.2024.e2198

PMID

38528802

Abstract

Suicide is a significant and increasing public health concern. Research has shown that screening for suicide risk is inconsistent in acute care settings and that a variety of different tools are used for that purpose. The Columbia-Suicide Severity Risk Scale (C-SSRS) has emerged as a validated and recognised suicide risk screening tool. This article describes a quality improvement project designed to improve the screening of patients for suicide risk in a large hospital system in the Midwestern US. As part of the project, 97% of nurses working in the organisation's emergency departments self-completed a 30-minute interactive learning module on the background, relevance and application of the C-SSRS. The C-SSRS enables nurses to classify the severity of suicide risk, which helps to provide interventions commensurate with patients' level of risk. Following completion of the module, there was a significant increase in the percentage of patients screened for suicide risk.

Language: en

Keywords

accident and emergency; emergency care; management; mental health; patient assessment; patients; professionals; risk assessment; suicidal intent; suicide