Nursing students' attitudes towards suicide and suicidal patients: A multicentre cross-sectional survey

Background: Education of nursing students can be a valuable resource in contributing to suicide prevention in mental health service users. The evaluation of students' attitudes towards a complex clinical issue is an important aspect of education that can expand traditional paths to acquisition of competence. Thus far, very few studies investigated attitudes towards suicidal risk among nursing students, and no data are available on Italian settings. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore nursing students' attitudes towards suicidal risk across the Nursing schools in three Italian universities. Design: Multicentre cross-sectional survey incorporating a before-after design. Setting and participants: A non-randomized sample of nursing students of the bachelor's degree in Nursing in three University hospitals was recruited. Methods: Nursing students completed “Suicide Behaviour Attitude questionnaire-Italian version” (SBAQ-ita scale); second-year nursing students of the University of Milan completed the scale before (T0) and 2 months after (T1) a specific lecture on suicide and suicidal risk. Results: Three hundred and fourteen students were enrolled (response rate 76.77%). The overall score of sample attitudes had a Median (Me) of 3.5[2.5;4] for the domain “Feeling towards the patient”, 3[2;4] for the domains “Professional ability”, 5[3;7] for the domain “Right to suicide”, 5[4;6] for the domain “Knowledge”. Improved median score regarding the domain “Professional ability” (0.015), and decreased median score on the “Knowledge” (0.021) domain were observed at T1. Conclusions: The study highlights the impact of an educational intervention on nursing students' attitudes, supporting its implementation to improve academic education programmes.