Psych Nursing assignment re: what to do for gay 16 yo male who attempted suicide

[AllisonW]

I have a writting assignment for my psych class that I need some help with. I was given this to write about:

16 year old gay male attempted suicide by hanging. He is now on your floor being monitored. What would you do?

I am supposed to write, I assume, about the psych nursing role for caring for this patient. I know support, compassion, respect..encouraging communication between patient and family, assisting patient with finding support groups, etc. However, that is not all a nurse would do.

What exactly would the the nurse do for that patient?

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

AllisonW.

[Airidis]

I think a big component in this situation would be looking for the non verbal ques if the male wishes to speak about what drove him to those depths to attempt to take his own life and building a good rapport with him so that he trusts you as his caregiver.

[DayDreamin ER CRNP]

I'm guessing you need to think Maslow for this assignment. If it were my paper, I'd take a care plan-type approach.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Everyone has mentioned therapeutic communication so I won't repeat it, but don't forget about the basics, either.

You want to keep the young man alive. The most basic thing is make sure he doesn't have the tools or opportunity to kill himself. What actions by the nurse would be necessary?

[nursevandy]

Make a contract with the pt stating that if he has any urges, thoughts, etc to harm himself he will notify you or staff. Of course, EVERYTHING mentioned above ESPECIALLY building a rapport. Just think, if you were that pt, would you tell someone who is a stranger...why you tried suicide? NO. Think as a pt. You, as a nurse, need to initially identify your own feelings toward gays. You may, unintentionally, display non-verbal cues to pt that you are not accepting of his lifestyle if you don't recognize your own feelings. Once pt can "feel" you are compassionate about him HOLISTICALLY he will open up. I am sure you can build a great paper based on EVERYTHING stated here and above. Good luck.