A descriptive study of baccalaureate nursing students responses to suicide prevention education

6^th World Nursing and Healthcare Conference

August 15-17, 2016 London, UK

Julie M Pullen and Fredricka Gilje

Montana State University College of Nursing, USA

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Internationally, little is known of educational content focused on suicide prevention in undergraduate nursing curricula. Through 2014, there were no known published research studies on implementation of suicide prevention training in a BSN curriculum, despite the need for such instruction as cited by various international healthcare and nursing initiatives. The aim of this multi-method study was to describe senior baccalaureate students� responses to an evidence-based suicide prevention gatekeeper training program entitled Question-Persuade-Refer which was implemented in a required course. Data were collected utilizing a pre & post-survey questionnaire administered to 150 students in four classes of a psychiatric nursing course from 2012 through 2014. The quantitative results were statistically significant (p<0.000) indicating an overall positive rating of the training. From the qualitative data, the main theme was �becoming capable intervening with persons at risk for suicide�. Students responded favorably to the evidence based suicide prevention gatekeeper training program. The training addressed various international suicide prevention strategies and filled a void in nursing curriculum. Moreover, it empowered students to engage in suicide prevention efforts in a northwestern state, which ranks among the highest for suicide in the USA.

Biography :

Julie M Pullen has completed DNP from Concordia University, Wisconsin (USA) in 2014. She has practiced full-time as a Family Nurse Practitioner before completing a Post-master’s Certification in Geriatrics. She is a certified Geriatric Nurse Practitioner with more than 10 years of experience and currently teaches full-time. Her doctoral project, focusing on suicide prevention in long-term care was recently accepted for publication in a geriatric journal. She currently serves on a community suicide prevention coalition, the education committee of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention-Montana chapter and educates Montana State University faculty and staff in suicide prevention gatekeeper training.

Email: julie.pullen@montana.edu