Date of Award

Summer 2020

Document Type

Project – Full Written

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Committee Chair

Candice Rome

Abstract

It is well-documented that oncology patients experience greater rates of suicidality including suicidal ideation, actions, or completions, as compared to the general population. The small, rural county which was the setting for this project has a higher rate of lung and colon cancers as compared to regional, state, and national rates. A review of the literature revealed best practices for suicide screening including universal education and screening and targeted education and screening for at-risk populations. The rate for suicides in the county is also higher than the rates for the region, state, and nation. The purpose of this project was to implement suicidal risk education for all patients receiving Hospice care at initial contact. Education included information related to signs and symptoms of suicidality and steps for patients and family members to take if suicidality is present or suspected. This project also aimed to implement documentation of education related to suicidality including client and family response to education. Dr. Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring was the theoretical underpinning for this project. Data collection revealed that implementation was successful, with 100% of newly admitted patients receiving suicidal risk education with documentation of patient and family understanding.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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