Date of Conferral

10-29-2024

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Barbara Barrett

Abstract

Suicide/self-harm continues to be one of the most common sentinel events that could result in significant harm or death especially among mental health patients (Mills et al., 2020). Environmental hazards seem to be the primary contributing factor in patient suicide and self-harm cases. Thus, patient suicide remains a safety concern, especially in mental health facilities. It is important that nurses have the knowledge to prevent, identify, assess, and respond appropriately whenever they encounter patients at risk for suicide/self-harm. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) staff education project focused on educating staff on how to use the Mental Health Environmental Risk Assessment Tool and sought to determine whether providing the staff with education about how to use the tool would improve their knowledge on using the tool to assess for environmental factors that could contribute to suicide risks in patients admitted on inpatient psychiatric units. The staff education project incorporated a pretest/posttest design using evidence-based strategies to improve staff knowledge. Eighteen staff participated in the education training program. Data collected from the pretest and posttest were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a paired t test. The pretest mean was 34.4, and the posttest mean was 90.5. The p-value of p < 0.001, supported the statistical significance of these positive findings. These findings showed that there was a significant increase in the nurses’ knowledge after they participated in the educational program. Implementing the recommended tool in inpatient mental health settings can benefit patients of different cultures, backgrounds, and diversities, which can have positive implications for nursing practice, social change, equity, and inclusion.

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