Date of Conferral
12-30-2025
Date of Award
December 2025
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
School
Nursing
Advisor
Patricia Schweickert
Abstract
This clinical practice guideline (CPG) project was developed to address a practice gap regarding the lack of systemic approach to suicide assessment in adult patients. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project identified a significant gap in care at a private mental health clinic, which lacked a consistent, evident-based approach to suicide risk assessment. The inconsistency increased the likelihood of under-identifying at risk patients, posing substantial medical-legal and patient safety concerns. The practice-focused question guiding this project was: Does the evidence support the development of a CPG for suicide risk screening that receives an AGREE II quality score by an expert panel and receives approval for use in the practice settings for end-users? The purpose of this project was to develop a CPG for practitioners in a clinic. A literature search and synthesis were performed using the Johns Hopkins Nursing evidence-based practice (JHNEB) model. Databases such as CINAHL and PubMed yielded 120 articles, and after screening for relevance and quality, 22 articles were selected. The evidence consisted of high-quality Level I and II evidence. An expert panel of five evaluated the CPG using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) tool. The results indicated high quality, with scores for the six domains ranging from 83% to 94%. The panel rated the overall quality of the guideline 6 out of 7 and recommended its use in practice. An important recommendation is to adopt and implement the CPG within the clinic, accompanied by comprehensive staff training. The project has implications for nursing to drive positive social change by enabling proactive health initiatives, increasing awareness, and engaging routine suicide screening among all patients when indicated to improve access to services enhancing patient safety and prevent suicide.
Recommended Citation
Molah, Monica, "For Evidence-Based Suicide Risk Assessment" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 18899.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/18899
