Practical strategies for care of individuals impacted by suicide in the emergency department: A narrative review

Abstract

Introduction Suicide is among the leading causes of death and nurses care for survivors of suicide at many points in their grief journey. Every individual who dies by suicide leaves behind multiple affected survivors and how they are cared for immediately following the suicide influences how they cope with the death. The purpose of this article is to make recommendations for the care of survivors of suicide loss in the emergency department. Methods: A narrative review of the current literature was conducted using the databases CINAHL and ProQuest. Articles focused on survivors of suicide loss and their care in the immediate period after the death were utilized. Results: Four hundred and twenty-nine articles were found. Applying established inclusion and exclusion criteria and quality assessment using the SANSA guideline, 29 were included in the review. Discussion: Three themes were identified: 1. Risks for suicide in survivors of suicide loss; 2. Interventions in the immediate period after suicide loss; and 3. Active suicide postvention as suicide prevention. Emergency department nurses need to have the ability to readily assess and recognize the survivors of suicide loss who are at higher risk for complicated grieving, and providing rapid and immediate services and resources will help promote coping and positive mental health outcomes in survivors. Keywords: suicide; survivors of suicide loss; suicide prevention; suicide postvention; death notification; grief