The development of patient suicide post-vention guidelines for psychiatry trainees and supervisors. (October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Henry, Jessica; Ramages, Meagan; Cheung, Gary
• Is Part Of: Australasian psychiatry. Volume 28:Number 5(2020:Oct.)
• Page Start: 589
• Page End: 594
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Subjects: patient suicide -- psychiatry training -- suicide post-vention -- guidelines; Psychiatry -- Australasia -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; 616.89005
• DOI: 10.1177/1039856220930687
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1039-8562

Abstract

Objectives: Patient suicide is one of the most stressful events for psychiatrists and psychiatry trainees. However, there is often a lack of consistent guidance and support available to clinicians, including post-vention. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of a resource that could support psychiatry trainees following patient suicide. Methods: Following a literature review, we adapted two US patient suicide post-vention guidelines to reflect local processes and support systems available by consulting a number of key stakeholders in the training programme and district health boards. Results: The first part of the post-vention guidelines included procedural processes such as the serious incident review process and reporting to coroner's office. The second part included a checklist for trainee, supervisor, local training facilitator and director of training according to the following time frame: first 24 hours, first 1–2 weeks and following months. Conclusions: Post-vention guidelines and teaching about patient suicide and its effects could improve the training experience of psychiatry trainees and facilitate the development of resilience as they progress through training.