Liberating burdensomeness of suicide survivorship loss: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis

What is an interpreted and synthesised understanding of responses of survivors to a suicide death of a close person?

It is well known that survivors of suicide loss who are in a close relationship with the deceased are at high risk for suicidality and health conditions. Nurses in various settings need evidenced-informed approaches to encounter these vulnerable persons and support their healing journey from postvention to prevention.

The design is reflexive and iterative.

A Critical Interpretive Synthesis comprised of six phases: formulating the review question; searching literature; sampling; determining quality; extracting data; interpretive synthesis. Qualitative content analysis was also.

Based on a sample of 15 published full-text qualitative and quantitative nursing research studies published between 1990 and 2016, an aggregated, interpreted and synthesised understanding of responses of survivors of suicide loss to the suicide death of a close person emerged. Four synthesised concepts were: dreading burden of suicide risk and stigma; facing burdensomeness in the aftermath of suicide death; enduring being burdened-unburdened, striving to invest in living; and liberating burdensomeness, journeying toward healing.

Contextually, geo-cultural gaps exist in published nursing studies. Most studies were from North American and a few from Asia. The reported suicide deaths occurred over a wide range of time. Conceptually, four synthesised concepts can be viewed as a process of moving from burdensomeness to liberating burdensomeness. Methodologically, a small body of knowledge that met quality appraisal was interpreted and synthesised into an understanding of an evidenced-informed approach to guide nurses' encounters with survivors of suicide loss.

The results contribute to an evidenced-informed approach for nurses in practice to support survivors of suicide loss journeying from burdensomeness to liberating burdensomeness. Results also serve as a foundation for further research.