Perceptions of mental health nurses toward caring for suicidal hospital inpatients in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Saudi nurse perceptions of suicide and its effect on their professional and personal lives have not been sufficiently discussed. This study aims to explore related mental health nurse experiences. A phenomenological qualitative inquiry of 20 practicing mental health nurses in one focus group provided data which were subjected to member and peer checking and NVivo software to extract five themes: nurse experience of patient suicide, expressed feelings, psychological responses, the effect on practice, and support. This study illuminated aspects of emotional labor of nurses and perceptions of caring for suicidal patients in Saudi Arabia.