Saving lives by asking questions: nurses’ experiences of suicide risk assessment in telephone counselling in primary health care

AIM: To explore nurses’ experiences of suicide risk assessment in telephone counselling (TC) in primary health care (PHC). BACKGROUND: Globally, priority is given to developing suicide prevention work in PHC. However, suicide risk assessments in TC are not included in these interventions even though these are a common duty of nurses in PHC. More expertise in the field can contribute to knowledge important for developing nurses’ tasks within PHC. METHODS: A qualitative interview study was conducted with 15 nurses. Data were analysed using conventional content analysis. FINDINGS: As suicide risk assessment in TC is a common duty for nurses in PHC, they need to be listened to and given the right conditions to perform this work. The nurses lack training in how to carry out suicide risk assessments and are forced to learn through experience. Intuition guides them in their work. A prerequisite for making correct assessments over the telephone is that the nurses are given time as well as the right competence. The PHC organisation needs to create these conditions. Furthermore, interventions to support suicide prevention need to include strategies to help nurses perform suicide assessment in TC.