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Web site spotlight: Suicide risk assessment important part of survey and patient safety

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, April 9, 2010

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Identifying patients at risk for suicide has been a requirement of the National Patient Safety Goals since 2007. Since that time, inpatient suicide remains the second most frequently reported sentinel event to The Joint Commission, after wrong-site surgery.

Those patients who arrive at the hospital with a primary diagnosis of an emotional or behavioral disorder must be assessed for their suicide risk, and it's important to document well that the assessment occurs, Sharon Chaput, RN, C, CSHA, director of regulatory and quality management at the Brattleboro (VT) Retreat, said during a recent HCPro audio conference.

The components of a suicide risk assessment, as recommended by the American Psychiatric Association, include looking at whether the patient has any psychiatric illness, family history of suicide or personal history of attempted suicide, individual strengths and vulnerabilities, as well as looking at the patient's psychosocial situation. Surveyors will look at when and what you documented.

Editor's note: To read the rest of this article, find it in the Reading Room at www.StrategiesForNurseManagers.com. Get a free trial membership that will give you 30 days to test drive all the exciting features on the Web site.

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