Patient suicide has large impact on providers
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Key takeaways:
- Psychiatrists and primary care providers were most likely to experience patient suicide.
- Among providers who experienced patient suicide, more than half changed their clinical practice afterward.
SAN FRANCISCO — Providers whose patients died by suicide experienced long-term negative effects, according to a poster presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.
Michelle Mercer, DO, an intern in the psychiatry residency program at Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio, and colleagues conducted a systematic database review to identify studies with keywords related to suicide, patients and clinicians. The researchers ultimately included 41 studies from 16 countries published from 1987 to 2022.
Analyses revealed that 86.6% of general practitioners and 73.1% of psychiatrists have had patients die by suicide, followed by occupational therapists (63.6%), nurses in all specialties (55.3%), psychiatric trainees (47.9%), psychologists (35.9%) and counselors, therapists and social workers (21%).
As reported in 32 studies, 50.9% to 100% of providers made changes to their practice after a patient suicide, such as tending to hospitalize patients more, being more cautious and increasing their use of consults. Changes to clinical practice were more common among providers who identified as female, were less experienced, felt unsupported, felt close to the patient or experienced greater distress after the patient suicide.
“Twenty percent of providers have emotional distress for longer than 1 month [after patient suicide], and that does impact the way that you practice,” Mercer told Healio.
Notably, up to 23% of providers reported being reluctant about working with suicidal patients, and up to 34.2% of mental health providers reported considering a career change, according to the poster.
“Clinicians should be prepared for the event because it will likely happen in their careers,” Mercer told Healio. “Clinicians should know the emotional and professional impacts so they can prepare, but also so they can support their own colleagues going through this.”