Nurses and other healthcare professionals have higher-than-average rates of suicide due to elevated stress levels combined with the high-stakes pressure of our lines of work. However, suicide is not the answer to one's problems.
NursesAnnouncementsArchiveArticle
"Suicide does not end the chances of life getting worse; Suicide eliminates the possibility of it ever getting better." -- Unknown
Many people in the nursing community remember either hearing or reading about Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who killed herself in 2012 after being tricked into releasing personal health information by two Australian disc jockeys posing as members of the Royal Family over the phone. Then there's Kimberly Hiatt, the Seattle area registered nurse who took her own life in 2011, mere months after making a medication error that resulted in the overdose and eventual death of a frail eight-month old infant.
Kimberly Hiatt was a good nurse by all accounts. She had 24 years of experience in the neonatal intensive care unit, and prior to the fatal medication error that occurred in September 2010, her record was free of any negative incidents. After attempting to place myself in her shoes, I can sense the profound despondency she experienced throughout the last months of her life. For starters, she must have felt deeply horrified that the medication error led to a baby's demise. Secondly, the hospital where she had given 24 years of dedicated service terminated her longtime employment and referred her license number to the state board of nursing after the infant's heartbreaking death. Finally, the BON in the state where she practiced was conducting an investigation into the matter, so she ran the real risk of having formal action taken against her nursing license.
She was tormented over the loss of a young patient's life. She was heartbroken over losing a job she loved. She was agonizing over the potential end of a career that defined her adult life. At age 50, Kimberly Hiatt was watching herself disappear from the world and wanted the pain to end.
Suicide is defined as the deliberate taking of one's own life. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the United States in 2009, responsible for bringing about nearly 37,000 new fatalities during that year alone. In fact, suicides have been outnumbering homicides as a top cause of death in recent years.
Nurses are at risk for suicide due to the high-stakes, high-pressure, stressful nature of our work. The suicide rate for nurses is 0.11 deaths per 1000, which soars above the 0.07 suicide rate for the general population. So what steers a nurse toward taking his / her own life? In many instances it's because the nurse feels enduring despair after making a mistake that led to a patient's demise. Also, depression is a strong risk factor.
Other healthcare professionals have high suicide rates, too. For instance, physicians are nearly two times more likely to take their own lives than people in other careers. More health-related occupations whose members commit suicide at higher-than-average rates include pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians and chiropractors.
If you ever feel despondent, please do not take your life. You might feel depressed, but depression lies to you. You might be fearful of the future, but fear lies to you. We live in a society where a person can do a million good deeds during his / her lifetime, but those Monday morning armchair quarterbacks rip into your soul for the one major action you took that went terribly wrong. Do not listen to your negative thoughts when making the next move regarding your life, and most importantly, do not listen to negative people who do not care about you. Review the objective facts of your situation and promptly get help if you're considering suicide.
Call 1(800)-SUICIDE and talk to a caring person on the other end of the line. Visit a 24-hour crisis center or hospital to obtain help. Seek out people who care, such as family members or supportive friends. Always remember that light is at end of that dark tunnel. Always be mindful that when you've reached rock bottom, the only way to go is up. Whatever you do, we urge you to not kill yourself because your life has intrinsic value.
