Understanding nurse suicide using an ideation-to-action framework: An integrative review

The purpose of this integrative review was to explore, appraise and synthesize the current literature on correlates of suicide risk in nurses.

Integrative literature review.

Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Joanna Briggs Institute, PubMed, PsycInfo and Scopus electronic databases were searched for abstracts published between 2005 and 2020. Reference lists were hand searched.

The integrative review was based on the Whittemore and Knafl review methodology. Primary qualitative and quantitative studies about suicidal behaviour in nurses published in peer-reviewed journals were included. The methodological quality of included articles was assessed using the Mixed Methods Assessment Tool.

Separate correlates of risk and protective factors were identified for suicidal ideation, suicide attempt and death by suicide in nurses.

Due to a number of factors at the individual, interpersonal and work levels, nurses are uniquely positioned to be at risk of dying by suicide. The ideation-to-action framework provides a theoretical guide to understand the interplay between correlates and the effect it has on increasing a nurses' capability for suicide.

This review integrates the empirical literature to elucidate the concept of suicidal behaviour as it applies to nurses.