Gender at the center - psychiatric nursing after suicide attempts
Abstract
Background: Men die more often as a result of suicide while women make more suicide attempts. Gender inequality and discriminatory attitudes that women face lead to deterioration in their health and well-being, while masculine gender norms can lead to serious consequences for the mental health of men. People with different gender identities are also negatively affected by stereotypical gender norms and are at greater risk of suffering from mental illness and suicide.
Motive: There is currently a lack of research on what the care of people who have attempted suicide looks like from a gender perspective. Nurses' experiences are valuable to shed light on and can contribute to developed knowledge in how nursing should be conducted in order to prevent repeated suicide attempts from a gender perspective.
Aim: The purpose of the study was to describe nurses' experiences of possible differences in caring for women and men in psychiatric inpatient care after suicide attempts from a gender perspective.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses who cared for people who had attempted suicide in a closed psychiatric ward. The interviews were analyzed with qualitative content analysis.
Result: It turns out that there are differences in nurses' experiences of caring for men and women. Three categories were identified: "nursing interventions differ", "communication differs" and "the nurse's feelings and awareness are complex".
Conclusion: Nurses' experience of caring for men and women in inpatient psychiatric care after suicide attempts differ. Women who make repeated suicide attempts are often associated with young patients with emotionally unstable personality disorder and awake feelings of hopelessness and frustration. Men are taken more seriously but are more difficult to reach as they isolate themselves emotionally and physically in the ward. Raising knowledge and awareness of a gender perspective in nursing among care staff increases the opportunities for equal care. Further research is needed for targeted care of men and women after suicide attempts.
Keywords: Nurses, experience, men, women, care after suicide attempts, gender perspective.