LEARNING OUTCOME AND OBJECTIVES:  Upon completion of this continuing education course, you will demonstrate an awareness of the prevalence of suicide among the general population and Kentucky nurses, and strategies for suicide prevention, including:

• Recognize the impact of suicide among the general population and among nurses.
• Identify risk and protective factors for suicide.
• Discuss how to screen and assess those at risk for suicide.
• Review systems of care and best practices for patients at risk for suicide.
• Describe suicide prevention strategies.
• Summarize legal and ethical considerations when caring for a person who is at risk for suicide.

IMPACTS OF SUICIDE

Despite increasing awareness that suicide is preventable, suicide continues to be a major health problem in the United States and around the world. In 2020, suicide was the 12th leading cause of death for all ages in the United States, and in 2021 suicides totaled 48,183 (CDC, 2022a, Stone et al., 2021).

Certain groups are at higher risk for suicide than others. In 2021, these included:

• By gender: Suicide among males was four times higher than among females (Curtain et al., 2022).
• By sexual orientation: Suicide risk was three to six times greater for lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults than for heterosexual adults, with suicidality highest among transgender youth (Austin et al., 2022; Ramchand, 2022).
• By age: People ages 10–14 had the lowest rate (2.8 suicide deaths per 100,000), while those 85 and older had the highest rate (20.9 per 100,000).
• By race/ethnicity: the highest U.S. age-adjusted suicide rate was among Non-Hispanic American Indians/Alaska Natives (28.1 per 100,000) (Stone et al., 2023).
• By occupation: Nurses are four times more likely to die by suicide than people working outside of medicine, and about 1 in 18 nurses yearly experience suicidal ideation. (Fischer, 2022; NCOA, 2021)

In 2021, a study was completed that found members of the nursing profession were 18% more likely to die from suicide than the general population, and among female nurses, the risk of death by suicide was found to be nearly double the risk observed in the general population (Davis et al., 2021).

Among healthcare workers, more nurses than any other segment of the healthcare workforce have died during the COVID pandemic: 1,140 nursing professionals in the first year. The pandemic has affected every nurse, leading to higher rates of anxiety, distress, and traumatic stress, which have resulted in the development of depressive states. Isolation, loss of social support, and loneliness associated with the lockdowns all contributed to traumatic experiences (McGuinness, 2021).

In Kentucky, approximately 58 nurses have died by suicide since 2016, and in response, the Kentucky Board of Nursing has mandated that all nurses must complete nurse suicide-prevention continuing education with the goal of teaching them how to identify signs of suicide risk in themselves and others and how to intervene effectively (Cross, 2022).