Exploring Emergency Department Workers’ Attitudes Towards Individuals with Suicide Attempts: A Cross Sectional Study

Year 2023, Volume: 2 Issue: 5, 280 - 285, 27.12.2023

Habibe Selmin Özensoy , Selvi Ceran , Miray Tümer

https://doi.org/10.5505/achmedj.2023.29392

Abstract

Introductıon:This study aims to determine the attitudes of emergency service workers toward patients attempting suicide (PAS) and the factors influencing these attitudes.
Methods: A total of 122 voluntary emergency service workers employed in a city hospital participated in the research. Data were collected using the “Attitude scale towards attemnpted suicide cases for evaluating emergency medical teams (ASETSA).” The data were analyzed using ANOVA and Student t-test.
Results: The average age of the participants was 29 ± 6.7, with the majority being male (60%) and in the first five years of their profession (58%). The mean score on the ASETSA was 98.3 ± 8.6. It was determined that variables such as age, gender, education level, marital status, years of service, and weekly working hours did not affect the participants’ attitudes towards PAS. A small percentage of workers (7%) reported receiving training on suicide prevention.
Conclusion: The overall attitudes of emergency health workers towards individuals with suicide attempts were positive and not associated with sociodemographic and professional characteristics. It was identified that emergency health workers need more psychiatric training to feel adequately prepared when intervening in cases of suicide attempts.

Keywords

Emergency Department, Suicide, Health Workers

References

• 1. World Health Organization . Suicide worldwide in 2019: global health estimates. Geneva: WHO; 20212. World Health Organization. Suicide Prevention (SUPRE), 2021.
• 2. Silverman MM. Suicide attempts in North America. In:Wasserman D, Wasserman C. eds. Oxford Textbook of Suicidology and Suicide Prevention. Oxford: Oxford University Press, (2009):117 – 121.
• 3. Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu [TÜİK], 2020.
• 4. Masuku S. Self-harm presentations in emergency departments: staff attitudesand triage. Br J Nurs (2019);28(22):1468–76
• 5. Saunders, K. E., Hawton, K., Fortune, S., & Farrell, S. Attitudes and knowledge of clinical staff regarding people who self-harm: a systematic review. Journal of affective disorders, (2012). 139(3), 205-216.
• 6. Self-harm: assessment, management and preventing recurrence NICE Guideline, No. 225 London: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); (2022) Sep 7.
• 7. Bergmans Y., Campbell F., Cutcliffe J, Eynan R, Harder H, Harder K, Links P, McCormick R, Santos J, Zaheer J (2014) Routledge International Handbook of Clinical Suicide Research. London: Routledge.
• 8. Conlon M, O’Tuathail C. Measuring emergency nurses’ attitudes towards deliberate self-harm using the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale. International Emergency Nursing. (2012) 20, 1, 3-13
• 9. Dickinson T, Hurley M. Exploring the antipathy of nursing staff who work within secure healthcare facilities across the United Kingdom to young people who selfharm. Journal of Advanced Nursing. (2012) 68, 1, 147-158.
• 10. Er, G., Şimşek, Z., & Aker, A. T. İntihar Girişiminde Bulunan Olgulara Yönelik Acil Sağlık Çalışanlarının Tutumları Ölçeği’nin (İGYTÖ) Geliştirilmesi; Geçerlik ve Güvenilirlik. Türk Psikiyatri Dergisi, (2013). 24(4), 260-265.
• 11. SPSS version 17.0 IBM Corporation, USA
• 12. Perboell, P. W., Hammer, N. M., Oestergaard, B., & Konradsen, H. Danish emergency nurses’ attitudes towards self-harm–a cross-sectional study. International emergency nursing, (2015). 23(2), 144-149.
• 13. McCarthy, L., & Gijbels, H. An examination of emergency department nurses’ attitudes towards deliberate self-harm in an Irish teaching hospital. International emergency nursing, (2010). 18(1), 29-35.
• 14. McAllister, M., Creedy, D., Moyle, W., & Farrugia, C. Nurses’ attitudes towards clients who self‐harm. Journal of advanced nursing, (2002). 40(5), 578-586.
• 15. Perloff, R. M. (2010). Introduction to persuasion. The dynamics of persuasive: communication and attitudes in the 21st century, 4th edn., Maddison Avenue, New York: Routledge, 3-39.
• 16. Gibb, S.J., Beautrais, A.L., Surgenor, L.J., Health-care staff attitudes towards self-harm patients. Aust N Z J Psychiatry (2010).44, 713–720
• 17. McCann, T. V., Clark, E., McConnachie, S., & Harvey, I. Deliberate self‐harm: emergency department nurses’ attitudes, triage and care intentions. Journal of clinical nursing, (2007).16(9), 1704-1711.