Exploring Helpful Nursing Care in Pediatric Mental Health Settings: The Perceptions of Children with Suicide Risk Factors and Their Parents

Abstract

This qualitative descriptive study explored helpful nursing care from the perspective of children with suicide-associated risk factors, and their parents. Data were collected through participant observation followed by a debriefing session with children, and semi-structured interviews with parents. The inductive analysis revealed four themes of helpful interventions: (1) caring for the child as a special person; (2) caring for the parents; (3) managing the child's illness; and (4) creating a therapeutic environment. The study findings highlight the importance of the relational aspect of nursing care and provide important insights related to family-centered and strengths-based practice with children at increased risk for suicide later in life.

Review: The views and experiences of suicidal children and young people of mental health support services: a meta‐ethnography

“…The need to hear the voices of children with complex mental health issues has been recognised generally (Hart & O'Reilly, 2017) and specifically in the context of suicide (Bergmans, Langley, Links, & Lavery, 2009;NSPCC, 2014). There is a need for healthcare practitioners to listen to the views of suicidal children when delivering care (Montreuil, Butler, Stachura, & Pugnaire Gros, 2015). However, our line-of-argument synthesis is novel, enabling a more nuanced understanding of such issues by suggesting there is a potential to silence the subject of suicide in clinical conversations when young people do not feel listened to.…”

Nursing in child psychiatric milieus: What nurses do: An update

“…Moreover, taking time to get to know the child fosters the child's experience of support and the growth of a respectful relationship (Montreuil, Butler, Stachura, & Pugnaire Gros, ).…”

“…Children and adolescents hospitalized on an inpatient unit represent a wide variety of serious emotional disorders and may have specific issues with self‐ management (Torio et al., ). But there are general principles nurses follow when helping children moderate behaviors that are impeding healthy development (Montreuil et al., ).…”

“…Finally, self‐management strategies should be geared to the population of clients being treated on the unit. For instance, for children hospitalized secondary to suicidal ideations interventions should be geared toward teaching coping behaviors but delivered in the context of a supportive, collaborative approach (Montreuil et al., ). For adolescents, specific strategies to address suicidal thoughts may include family interventions and individual skills training around emotional regulation and problem solving (Glenn, Franklin, & Nock, ).…”

“…Child mental health nurses and mental health technicians are critical to the relationships that are at the heart of the therapeutic environment (Gill et al., 2016). As members of the interdisciplinary team staff, they are also integral to helping families and their children reach hospitalization goals and transition back to the community (Montreuil et al., : Salamone‐Violi et al., ).…”