Date of Award

Fall 2023

Project Type

Clinical Doctorate

College or School

UNHM

Department

Nursing

Program or Major

DNP

Degree Name

Other

First Advisor

Colleran Cathleen

Second Advisor

Marcy Doyle

Abstract

Background: Suicide is a significant public health concern both nationally and globally. While the suicide rate has been decreasing in recent years, evidence shows that the rate of suicide among teenagers and adolescents has been on the rise. Teenage suicide accounts for 14% of all deaths by suicide in the United States, calling for effective interventions in various settings. However, inadequate knowledge of the potential signs and risk factors of suicide hinders mental healthcare professionals' ability to recognize at-risk patients.

Purpose: The project's objective was to evaluate the effects of the intervention on mental health workers' knowledge, skills, and screening rates based on the success of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) and other evidence-based programs. This project aimed to address issues of lack of training and equipping professionals to have suitable instruments toward achieving overall and successful suicide prevention in teenagers.

Method: The Suicide Knowledge and Skills Questionnaire (SKSQ) was used pre and post educational intervention to measure the effect and determine whether there was an increase in the degree of the knowledge and skills of the participants.

Intervention: Evidence-based interventions were used as education training to equip providers with skills in assessing and managing self-harm and suicidal behaviors among adolescents using the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) toolkit. The mental health professionals in the outpatient care clinic, such as mental health nurse practitioners, therapists, social workers, and nurse practitioner students, were among the project's participants.

Results: The participants gave correct answers to 66.1% of the questions in the pre-test SKSQ. After the implementation of the suicide training the participants correctly answered 70.7% of the questions, an improvement from their pre-intervention survey results measuring the level of knowledge about suicide.

Conclusion: The project has shown improvements in enhancing knowledge and skills when dealing with suicidal behavior, particularly in adolescents. Following the comprehensive analysis with the Suicide Knowledge and Skills Questionnaire, the study showed an increase rise in participants' ability to understand conceptions related to suicide and a high. However, further exploration is necessary to determine whether such interventions can potentially reduce teenage suicide and suicidal attempts.

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