Suicide Screening for Prisoners: An Ethical Critique of Research Rejection

A retrospective review of medical records was proposed to examine mental health staff compliance with documentation of a suicide assessment tool according to institutional policy on suicide screening within a U.S. correctional facility. A shift in focus was necessary when the proposed study was rejected by the institutional review board. Reasons for the rejection included low perceived benefit versus greater risk to the correctional facility and the need for prisoner informed consent, albeit the design was a retrospective medical record review. Because of this rejection, ethical issues in the prevention of suicide in prisons were examined with implications for the forensic nurse leading quality improvement initiatives.