Nurses' Experiences of Assessing Suicide Risk in Specialised Mental Health Outpatient Care in Rural Areas.

This study describes nurses' experiences of assessing suicide risk in specialised mental health outpatient care in rural areas in Sweden. We used a qualitative, descriptive design based on twelve interviews that were subjected to qualitative content analysis. The results showed that the nurses felt anguish due to a lack of control. They expressed uncertainty and loneliness, and they struggled with ethical issues and organisational challenges. Having the sole responsibility to assess suicide risk can increase a person's emotional vulnerability and moral stress. Consequently, in order to prevent ill health among these nurses, there is a need for a tolerant work climate and an organisation that provides support to its employees. Assessing suicide risk is a demanding task within mental health outpatient care. Further, nurses operating in rural areas have to initiate and conduct assessments on their own, and they are, together with the physician in charge, also held individually responsible for their assessments. Consequently, it is important to describe nurses' experiences of how they deal with questions concerning suicide risk. Their experiences can foster awareness of the responsibility and the ethical standpoints related to assessing suicide risk, can help outline the need for further education and supervision, and can improve support from co-workers and management.