title: Suicide intervention skills in health professionals: a multidisciplinary comparison.
abstract: Training in the recognition and management of suicidal risk is of crucial importance for prevention. The aim of our study was to compare competence in assessing and managing suicidal patients in different groups of Italian professionals. Two hundred and thirty two professionals (38 psychiatrists, 50 general practitioners, 34 psychiatric nurses, 60 doctors and nurses working in accident and emergency services, and 50 medical students) completed the Suicide Intervention Response Inventory (SIRI-2) (Neimeyer & Bonelle, 1997) and a questionnaire on perceptions of risk and protective factors in suicidal patients. Exposure to suicidal patients was found to be widespread in all groups, but specific training in suicide assessment and intervention was conspicuously rare. Psychiatrists outscored all other groups and psychiatric nurses scored significantly higher than general practitioners in identifying appropriate responses to suicidal patients. Taken together, our findings suggest the necessity of further training in suicide intervention for Italian health professionals, and especially for emergency service personnel and general practitioners.
authors.affiliation: University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy. gasparepal-mieri@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Gaspare
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palmieri
authors.forename: Matilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Forghieri
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pingani
authors.forename: Paolina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.forename: Nicolo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Colombini
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rigatelli
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Neimeyer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011314:Preventive Health Services; D011361:Professional Competence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000092864:Suicide Prevention