Evaluation and Management of the Suicide Risk in Psychiatry Patients

The risk of suicide is very common among the patients with psychiatric disorder and needs an emergency response. There are some signs specific to the disorders indicating increased risk of suicide. It is important that firstly health workers must identify these early warning signs and determine the risk of suicide. After evaluating the risk of suicide, what needs to be done is to establish a safety plan with the patient. Safety plan is an important initiative that protects the patient from suicide attempt and guides the patient about what to do when the crisis is experienced. The safety plan includes information such as strategies to be used by the patient to stay safe, early warning signs, coping strategies, contact information for social supports, family members or friends and telephone numbers of crisis units. It is recommended that the security plan prepared in the light of this information should be used by psychiatric nurses in the clinic. The creation of a safety plan will prevent or delay the patient's risk of attempted suicide as much as possible.