Sjuksköterskans preventionsåtgärder i omvårdnad av personer med självmordsrisk

: en litteraturstudie

Abstract

Background: Suicide is a problem of existence and each suicide act is a call for help. It is just over 1 million people committing suicide in the whole world every year, which means that ten times more are trying to take their lives. Approximately 1 500 people are dying of suicide in Sweden every year. Some of them have been in contact with the health care system during the last month in their life because of a suicide problem. Purpose: The aim of this essay is to describe the nurses´ prevention strategies for people at a risk of suicide. Method: A literature review based on 11 articles on qualitative and quantitative articles. Results: The analysis of the material showed four crucial categories to be important to handle the risk of suicide: to expand knowledge on prevention, ability to identify risk factors, a therapeutic approach and a preventive social support system. Discussion: The findings discussed show the nurse has to employ all the categories to give a favourable support for people at a risk of suicide. The four categories are interdependent to improve the caring for people at a risk of suicide. The deficit of prevention in any category could degrade the patient´s opportunities to handle its situation. Conclusion: This article could contribute to give information to nurses´ prevention strategies to prevent and handle suicide acts to improve the quality of life for people at a risk of suicide.