NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue
NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue
NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue
Suicide among High School Students 13-18 Years Old in New Jersey
Introduction
According to WHO, suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S and accounts for more than 40,000 deaths every year. Cases of suicide among adolescents aged 13- 18 years in New Jersey have increased in the recent years with several patients being brought to the emergency department following attempted suicide (Shepard et al., 2016). Adolescents in the age bracket of 13-18 years are mostly high school students with the incidence being high in males than females. According to a report by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF), the reasons behind suicide attempts are mostly mental health problems and substance abuse. The common forms of suicide are hanging, strangulation, use of firearms, falling, train transport, and poisoning (Sheftall et al., 2016)- NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue. The DCF report further states that the suicide rates have decreased in older youths but have increased among the young adolescents aged 10 to 18 years.
Click here to ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: on NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue
Impact of Suicide among High School Students to Our Organization
Cases of suicide attempts in the emergency department have increased in the past five years, and the big concern is that 40% of patients that presented with suicide attempts in the year2015-2018 were aged 12-18 years. Eight of the suicidal teenagers had a history of depression and reported that their lives had
NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue
lost meaning. Suicide attempts in teenagers with a history of drug substance abuse were at 60% with a majority being addicts of cocaine and heroine as implied in NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue. Moreover, seven patients that presented with suicidal ideations and attempts in 2018 reported having problems in school, such as poor grades and being bullied by their colleagues. The suicide cases have negatively impacted our organization since a lot of resources are directed towards the treatment of suicidal patients requiring intensive treatment and constant monitoring. The same resources could have been used in managing patients with health-related conditions. Furthermore, it has led to an increase in the population of patients in the psychiatric clinic with the population exceeding the recommended provider to patient ratio.
Impact of Suicide in other Organizations
According to some articles I reviewed on the issue of adolescent suicide, there have been cases of adolescents committing suicide when in inpatient units. The suicide cases have negatively affected the health facilities since the health providers had to report statements to the local authorities on the suicide cases (Gould et al., 2018). The suicide cases affected the image of the organizations since they were questioned why patients committed suicide on their watch, and the patient’s parents sued them. Teenage suicide deaths have been found to cause more psychological effect on health professionals than cases of sudden death. Besides, the health providers experience feelings of shock and often get the blame and condemned when teenagers commit suicide under their care.
Strategies by Other Organizations to Address Suicide among High School Students
Several organizations have taken several measures to address the issue of suicide among high school students to reduce the incidences to zero in the next five years. One measure is screening every adolescent in the outpatient clinic for symptoms of mental illnesses, and substance abuse. Patients suspected of substance abuse undergo a drug test and are referred for counseling.In NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue, the measure has helped in early diagnosis and treatment of depression and substance-abuse related symptoms, which are the common risk factors of suicide among adolescents (Stone et al., 2017). One measure that I found very applicable is the establishment of youth-friendly clinics where adolescents are treated and undergo counseling on how to solve everyday problems (Stone et al., 2017). The youth-friendly clinics offer integrated services, and the teenagers do not have to interact with other patients to access other services.
Mental health awareness and screening outreach programs are being conducted by health organizations, especially by facilities offering mental health services as the core business. The organizations conduct outreach programs in high schools and educate students on mental illnesses such as depression, their causes, and treatment (Gould et al., 2018). During the programs, counseling psychologists address students and counsel them on how to tackle life situations without inflicting self-harm. The students are taught how to recognize a colleague having psychological distress or in a crisis and how to help them get through the situation (Gould et al., 2018). Furthermore, the organizations have linked with the school counselors who refer students with psychological issues to the health facility for further assessment and treatment (Stone et al., 2017). They also have a helpline number given to students where they contact a counselor from the organization when they are experiencing problems at home or school who in return, offer counseling services.
Adoption Of Strategies To Reduce Suicide Among High School Students and Its Impact in Our Organization.
The strategies used by other organizations include screening adolescents for mental health illnesses in clinics, use of youth-friendly clinics, awareness, and screening outreach programs, and use of helpline numbers. Adoption of the above strategies may help in lowering the adolescent suicide rate in New Jersey and the cases of patients presenting in the emergency department with attempted suicide. If we adopt the use of youth-friendly clinics, it will promote integrated care and provision of counseling services to teenagers. Besides, the strategy will help in early detection and management of mental illnesses and lowering the risk of suicide. We can also conduct outreach programs in high schools within our state and offer mental health awareness to students and teach them how to solve life issues without resulting in self-harm or suicide. Nevertheless, adoption of these strategies will require the organization to spend a lot of financial and human resources in establishing youth clinics, hiring health professionals, and in organizing outreach programs.
NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue References
Gould, M., Lake, A., Kleinman, M., Galfalvy, H., Chowdhury, S., & Madnick, A. (2018). Exposure to suicide in high schools: Impact on serious suicidal ideation/behavior, depression, maladaptive coping strategies, and attitudes toward help-seeking. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(3), 455.
Sheftall, A. H., Asti, L., Horowitz, L. M., Felts, A., Fontanella, C. A., Campo, J. V., & Bridge, J. A. (2016). Suicide in elementary school-aged children and early adolescents. Pediatrics, 138(4), e20160436.
Shepard, D. S., Gurewich, D., Lwin, A. K., Reed Jr, G. A., & Silverman, M. M. (2016). Suicide and suicidal attempts in the United States: costs and policy implications. Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior, 46(3), 352-362.
Stone, D. M., Holland, K. M., Bartholow, B. N., Crosby, A. E., Davis, S. P., & Wilkins, N. (2017). Preventing suicide: A technical package of policies, programs, and practice.
Get a 10 % discount on an order above $ 50
Use the following coupon code : SAVE15
Order Now
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH ONLINE NURSING PAPERS TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT