Key Takeaways
Extended Takeaways
- In this sample, 51% of respondents had experienced a patient suicide, indicating that post-suicide support planning should be treated as a routine workforce need rather than a rare event.
- The emotional impact was not uniformly brief: 46.8% reported effects lasting up to 1 month, 17% reported effects for as long as 6 months, and 8.5% considered changing their career path.
- Institutional response appears to be a key gap, because respondents generally described adequate support from family, friends, and colleagues but support from the hospital/organization was largely lacking.
- Shame and isolation may limit informal help-seeking after a patient suicide, as only 27.7% were mildly comfortable discussing the incident and its impact with colleagues.
- Clinical review after a suicide should address modifiable systems issues raised by respondents, including irregular follow-up, family warning-sign education, assertiveness about admission, and closer monitoring, especially because 89.4% believed the death could have been prevented.
- Training content should go beyond suicide risk assessment alone: all respondents endorsed training on managing the impact of patient suicide, yet only 11.5% felt existing training in India was extremely effective.
