| Description |
This was a descriptive study of how individuals who attempted suicide viewed the care they received in the emergency room of a general hospital. One hundred fifty subjects were selected from the medical records of the University Hospital of the University of Utah Medical Center. A questionnaire was sent to the 34 individuals who agreed to participate in the study. The questionnaire contained 12 questions and asked the respondents to give information specifically about their emergency room experiences. Only 18 of the total 150 subjects completed and returned the questionnaire. Literature on suicide attempters states that everyone who attempts suicide needs further psychiatric help. However, for the most part, these individuals are brought to the hospital for emergency care and then discharged without further treatment or follow-up. Follow-up case is the exception rather than the rule, even though it is the policy of many hospitals to recommend further help. If the literature is correct, it must be assumed that the group of suicide attempters identified in this study should have had further psychiatric help. A survey to determine whether or not such help was offered was part of the purpose of this study. It was further intended to learn if the patients received any help after their release from the hospital, and, if so, what kind of help, and, if not, what the reasons were. The survey inquired as to how adequate the patients felt their emergency care was by doctors, nurses, and attendants. The patients were asked in what ways they felt they could have been made to feel more comfortable and better cared for, what the most helpful things done for them were and by whom, whether they would have preferred being admitted to the hospital rather than being released after their emergency care, if a visit by a professional person in their home would have been helpful, and whether or not they had had any recurring feelings like those which led to their suicide attempt. Patients were asked if they were currently receiving psychiatric help, and, if not, if they would like help if it were available. It was believed that in order to give the best nursing care to other individuals under similar circumstances, it would be important to learn what the individuals in this study were thinking at the time they were given emergency care at the hospital, how they viewed their experience in the emergency room, and how they felt about the experience several months afterward. In this sample, about 33% of the respondents did not obtain further help. It should be a matter of concern to all mental health workers to know more about all suicide attempters who do not seek help. Interest in determining why they did not seek further help should precede efforts to help them receive it, and was the further purpose of this study. |
