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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Addressing suicide in America's youth is imperative. Teachers play an essential role in identifying and intervening with adolescents experiencing psychological distress leading to suicide. Unfortunately, teachers and staff lack professional development in addressing the identification of students in psychological distress.
PURPOSE:This project aimed to increase referrals to school counselors by integrating an evidence-based program for educators identifying adolescents at risk for suicide in a rural high school. Design Method: This quantitative quality improvement project with a pre-/post-test design was implemented with referrals to the school guidance counselors before and after the program's completion were analyzed.
CONCLUSION: There was a significant increase in teachers and staff members' confidence in their ability to recognize when a student was exhibiting signs of psychological distress and their ability to talk to a student in psychological distress and help those students connect with the school guidance counselors. Implications for Nursing: This project showed that implementing an evidence-based professional development program helped build teachers' and staff's skills that support early identification and intervention with students experiencing psychological distress, leading to suicide.
Language: en |