Suicide Prevention Training

Overview of Assignment

Nursing staff will be randomly paired into groups of three.Nursing staff will have access to a computer lab where they will view videos,read research-based documents, and review three case studies dealing with patients at risk for a suicide attempt while in an acute care setting. After all material has been reviewed, staff will develop a group list of their suggested suicide prevention strategies and their rationale for use. This list will be sent to the instructor by Email for review. The group will then decide which suicide prevention screening tool would be the best choice for their current  place of employment (Acute Care Psychiatric Facility). Staff will then work as a group to decide which of the three case studies has a patient with the highest risk for suicide using their chosen suicide screening tool and provide their rationale. The students will present this case to their peers in a lecture room using PowerPoint and an overhead projector. Grades will be assigned by a Nurse Educator using a Rubric will be given to staff at the beginning of the program.

As a learner you will benefit from this assignment through collaboration, teamwork, development of critical thinking, development of clinical judgment and the ability to implement strategies to improve your patient's safety. Have fun and make your presentation creative!

Time Allotted for Assignment Completion: There will be two 2 hour sessions which take place in the computer lab for audio/video review by staff. The Case Study group presentation with PowerPoint is to last no longer than 15 minutes including question and answers from peers and instructor.

Learning Outcomes

1) By the end of this unit of instruction, the staff nurse will be able to develop a list of ten suicide prevention strategies that are supported by current research and provide rationale for their choices.

2) By the end of this unit of instruction, the staff nurse will be able to recommend a suicide prevention screening tool for nursing staff in an acute care psychiatric facility and provide the rationale for their choice.

3) By the end of this unit of instruction, the staff nurse will be able to predict the patient with the highest risk for a suicide attempt while in hospital from three case studies provided and the rationale for their choice.