Nursing students' attitudes to suicide and suicidal persons: A cross‐national and cultural comparison between Turkey and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Introduction Suicide is a major public health issue internationally, and the impact of positive or negative attitudes amongst the mental health professional workforce warrants scrutiny. The study aimed to examine English and Turkish nursing students' attitudes towards people with suicidal behaviour. Method This cross-cultural study reports on attitudes of 240 nursing students towards suicide in Turkey and 82 nursing students in the UK. A reliable and valid 24 item "Attitudes towards Suicide Scale" and "Social Reactions to Suicidal Persons Scale" were used to measure attitudes. Results The UK nursing students were found to display more accepting attitudes to suicide, and scored higher on acceptability of suicide, seeing suicide as a solution and open reporting and discussion of suicide subscales than their Turkish counterparts. Turkish nursing students scored higher on punishment after death and hiding suicidal behaviour subscales than the UK students. Turkish nursing students scored significantly higher on deterring subscale of reactions to a suicidal peer scale than the UK nursing students. Implications for practice It is vital for nurse students to develop positive acceptance of suicide through education, reflection and clinical supervision to be more therapeutic towards suicidal patients.

Attitudes And Opinions Towards Suicidality In Professionals Working With Oncology Patients: Results From An Online Survey

“…For example, mental health nurses, who have more experience and knowledge with suicidal patients tend to hold more positive attitudes towards them. 14,15 Furthermore, more positive attitudes are also associated with feeling more con dent and competent treating suicidal patients. 16,18 Negative attitudes can lead to a lack of empathy and stigmatization, resulting in a decreased quality of care.…”

“…The majority of studies looked at HCPs working in psychiatry or in emergency departments. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Only three studies focus on HCPs working in oncology. [24][25][26] None of those studies investigated the attitude-behavior relationship.…”

Contact and communication with patients experiencing suicidal ideation: A qualitative study of nurses’ perspectives

“…In addition, studies across continents uncovered elements of the sociocultural context (e.g. religious beliefs, stigma, criminalization of suicide) that can influence the individuals' lived experiences of SI, the (student) nurses' attitudes towards suicide and suicide attempts and the (student) nurses' engagement in recognizing and discussing suicide (Flood et al, 2018;Osafo, Akotia, Boakye, & Dickson, 2018;Vedana et al, 2018).…”

Attitudes and opinions towards suicidality in professionals working with oncology patients: results from an online survey

“…Only few studies investigated the attitudes of HCPs towards suicidality in their patients. The majority of studies looked at HCPs working in psychiatry or in emergency departments [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Only three studies focused on HCPs working in oncology [27][28][29].…”