UBC Department of Emergency Medicine Clinical Associate Professor, Dr. Frank Scheuermeyer, and Clinical Assistant Professor, Dr. David Barbic, joined colleagues from UBC Department of Psychiatry and the UBC Faculty of Medicine in analyzing the attitudes of emergency physicians towards suicidal patients and measuring the skills and training of emergency physicians to care for these patients.
In the study published in the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, the majority of the 188 emergency physicians who responded to an online survey said they treat around 5–15 suicidal patients a month.
Of those who responded, 64 percent stated they had the skills to screen for suicidal ideation, and just 17 percent of the emergency physicians had received specific training for suicidal ideation treatment in the past five years. While 60 percent of the emergency physicians were confident in referring patients to appropriate resources, only 30 percent felt confident in their ability to create personal safety plans for patients.
Overall, the responding emergency physicians had a generally positive attitude towards treating suicidal patients, but more education may be required to further improve care.
Publication
Fernandes J, Scheuermeyer FX, Chakraborty AT, Honer WG, Barbic D. What are Canadian emergency physicians’ attitudes and self-perceived competence toward patients who present with suicidal ideation?. Can J Emerg Med 23, 668–672 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43678-021-00157-0
A version of this story originally appeared in The Evidence Speaks (July 2021) – CHÉOS Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcomes Sciences.
