A practice guideline for nursing care of suicidal
patients with schizophrenia or related psychotic disorders
was developed and tested. The guideline is
grounded in available evidence about risk management
and best practice interventions to reduce suicide
risk. Using the assessments included in the guideline
assures that all issues relevant to suicide risk are
covered when discussing suicidality with a patient. The
level of detail of these assessments exceeds standard
questions about suicidality. They allow for an open
discussion with the patient, with ample opportunity
for the patient to discuss personal experiences. The
guideline furthermore discusses interventions to
reduce suicide risk and improve the patient’s quality
of life.
The results of the pilot study show the potential of
the guideline to support nurses in discussing suicidality
with patients and assessing suicide risk, and to a
lesser extent, the potential to support selection and
execution of interventions. The level of experience of
the nurses who participated in the pilot study was
quite high. This may explain why some of the participating
nurses experienced the guideline as nothing
new. It is possible that the guideline makes explicit
what some nurses already do based on experience. The
guideline received less support for selection and
execution of interventions, which may be a result of
having had few opportunities to develop an intervention
plan based on the guideline. According to the