Nurses' attitudes toward the care of the attempted suicide patient

This study explored the attitudes of emergency department nurses toward the care of the attempted suicide patient. The independent variables were the ages of nurses and their length of work experience in the emergency department. One-hundred and one surveys were collected from emergency department nurses employed in three Broward County hospitals. In general, there were no significant differences between the two study groups; however, variances did appear in several areas relating to knowledge about attempted suicide. The less experienced group and the younger group rated lower on these items. The nurses responding to this survey expressed generally favorable attitudes toward the care of the attempted suicide patient.