When suicide occurs, it is regarded as an adverse event. Often, little attention is given to
the nurses who cared for the patients prior to the adverse event. Instead the affected
nurses are expected to write statements and incident reports about the adverse event. The
aim was to explore the experiences of nurses who cared for patients who successfully
committed suicide whilst admitted at a specific general hospital in Gauteng Province,
South Africa. A qualitative exploratory research was conducted. Data were collected
through in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of six nurses and content analysis
was done. Nurses experienced feelings of shock; blame and condemnation; inadequacy
and feared reprisal. This study suggests a basis for development of support strategies to
assist the nurses to deal with their emotions following experience of adverse events