However, there may be another explanation for the
relatively few assessments and intervention plans.
Many nurses indicated that they normally do not
discuss suicidality with patients if there are no apparent
signs of suicidality. This raises the question of
which signs should be apparent to make them ask
about suicidality. Moreover, nurses sometimes feared
that discussing suicidality may actually trigger suicidal
thoughts and may increase suicidal intent and behavior.
Some nurses mentioned that their patients focused
on rehabilitation. This may have led these nurses to
assume that suicidality would not be an issue for these
patients, which is not necessarily a valid assumption
because suicide risk increases immediately after hospital
discharge (Troister, Links, & Cutcliffe, 2008).
Overall, it appears that nurses are reluctant to discuss
suicidality when patients do not bring up the issue
themselves. It seems they prefer to “let sleeping dogs
lie,” rather than consider the consequences of avoiding
the issue for a patient who is indeed suffering from
suicidality.