Nursing personnel attitudes towards suicide: the development of a measure scale

Abstract

A b s t r a c t Objective: To describe the construction of the Suicide Behavior Attitude Questionnaire (SBAQ) which measures attitudes of nursing personnel towards suicide, and verify attitude differences among these professionals. Methods: The Suicide Behavior Attitude Questionnaire comprises 21 visual analogue scale items (beliefs, feelings and reactions on suicidal patients) selected from a pool of attitude statements generated by focal groups and experts' judgement. The questionnaire was completed by 317 nursing professionals who worked in a teaching hospital. Factor analysis and internal consistency were calculated. Results: Three interpretable factors were extracted, accounting jointly for 40% of the total variance: Feelings when caring for the patient, Professional Capacity and Right to Suicide, comprising 7, 4 and 5 items, respectively. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.7, 0.6 and 0.5, respectively. Greater Professional Capacity was reported by nursing assistants and those who had already took care of suicidal patients. The belief that a person does not have the right to commit suicide was stronger among older professionals, those who had never taken care of suicidal patients, those who had a family history of suicide, those who were Protestants and that used to go more frequently to church services. Conclusions: The Suicide Behavior Attitude Questionnaire proved to be user-friendly and quite a simple instrument to assess attitude towards suicide among nursing personnel.Keywords: Suicide; Attitudes; Health personnel; Nurse-patient relations; Questionnaires Resumo Objetivo: Descrever a construção do Questionário sobre a Atitude Frente ao Comportamento Suicida (QACS), que mede as atitudes do pessoal de enfermagem em relação aos suicidas e verifica as diferenças de atitude entre esses profissionais. Métodos: O Questionário sobre a Atitude Frente ao Comportamento Suicida compreende uma escala de 21 itens visuais análogos (crenças, sentimentos e reações em relação a pacientes suicidas) selecionados a partir de uma série de frases sobre as atitudes geradas a partir de grupos focalizados e o julgamento de especialistas. O questionário foi completado por 317 profissionais de enfermagem que trabalhavam em um hospital escola. Foram calculadas a análise fatorial e a consistência interna. Resultados: Foram extraídos três fatores interpretáveis, responsáveis em conjunto por 40% da variância total: Sentimentos ao tratar do paciente, a Capacidade Profissional e o Direito ao Suicídio, englobando 7, 4 e 5 itens, respectivamente. Os coeficientes do alfa de Cronbach foram 0,7, 0,6 e 0,5, respectivamente. Uma maior Capacidade Profissional foi relatada por assistentes de enfermagem e aqueles que já tinham cuidado de pacientes suicidas. A crença de que uma pessoa não possui o direito de cometer suicídio foi mais forte entre profissionais mais velhos, entre aqueles que não tinham nunca cuidado de pacientes suicidas, aqueles com histórico familiar, os que eram protestantes e costumavam freqüentar mais cultos religiosos. ...

Atitudes relacionadas ao suicídio entre graduandos de enfermagem e fatores associados

“…(14) Initially, the researchers obtained the list of students who met the inclusion criteria. An undergraduate student who was a member of the research team obtained authorization from professors who had classes with the students and, in a previously agreed class period, the researcher entered the classroom, presented by the professor, who then suspended class and left the room.…”

“…Respondents were asked to indicate a point on each line that best reflected their opinions, feelings or reactions. (14) Due to theoretical and practical limitations of instruments available for measurement of attitudes, an instrument was developed. For the development of the SBAQ, a review of the literature and focus groups with nursing professionals was initially performed to develop the statements that would compose the instrument.…”

“…Three interpretable factors were extracted, accounting for 43% of the total variance. (14) Thus, in the original study, the items were grouped into three factors: 1 -Feelings towards the patient; 2-Perception of professional capacity, and 3-Right to suicide. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated for each factor and the results obtained were, respectively, 0.7, 0.6 and 0.5.…”

“…The authors authorized the use of the questionnaire in the present study. (14) The score on each SBAQ item was considered from the point of intersection between the line available on the instrument and the line drawn by the study participant. The score was computed in centimeters and the values were transferred to the database, with one decimal place.…”

Nursing students attitudes across the suicidal behavior

“…11 It is common for professionals do not consider themselves prepared to deal with individuals with suicidal behavior. 12 Thus, in general there is by health professionals, due to stigmatization, prejudice and personal difficulty, contempt in relation to suicide attempts. 6.13 It is evident that they are not yet prepared to accept this patient as someone who needs help, and that often, the nursing professional has positions marked by prejudice and discrimination against the patient.…”