Suicide and Mandated Reporting?

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Hi everyone,

I just recently got into nursing school and am finishing some prerequisite courses before I enter. One of these courses is an ethics course. I was prompted in this course with cases of euthanasia and suicide. I was wondering if anyone knows if there are mandated reporting laws regarding adult suicide for healthcare professionals, especially in Colorado. Thank You.

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Specializes in Professional Development Specialist.

In general you will find that people here aren't going to do your homework for you. Have you tried googling?

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Of course I have; I didn't get into nursing school without some initiative nor the ability to use my resources. My ethics course hardly cares about jurisprudence. This is for my personal knowledge as I do not ever want to be a part of a suicide. I was taught that proximity to a situation always equals responsibility for its outcome. With this in mind I would very much hate to live with the idea that I could have prevented a suicide (as depression is often recoverable) but decided not to infringe on someone's autonomy. A class discussion got me wondering about this. Besides, I would have to site legitimate sources if I was going to use this information for school anyway (good old APA).

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Hey Rmedin19,

I'm wondering the same thing you are…and I'm not looking for homework help either. Have you learned anything since you posted this in 2010? I'm in Washington state and my Googling hasn't turned up anything clear. Also, though I'm in WA now, I've been looking into moving to Colorado for a few years. Anything you want to share would be greatly appreciated!

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Hey Rmedin19,

I'm wondering the same thing you are…and I'm not looking for homework help either. Have you learned anything since you posted this in 2010? I'm in Washington state and my Googling hasn't turned up anything clear. Also, though I'm in WA now, I've been looking into moving to Colorado for a few years. Anything you want to share would be greatly appreciated!

The original poster of this thread hasn't been on the site since 2010.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Colorado does not allow euthanasia.

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Thanks for the info, Rose_Queen!

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Just want to clarify...

I am asking if nurses are mandated to report a person who shares their suicide plan. I can't imagine not doing something to help, but there really isn't anything that clearly states "you must report…"

Hope that makes sense! :rolleyes:

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