Suicide In Native Americans

1049 Words5 Pages
The suicide rate of Native American populations is an appalling epidemic. It has been prevalent for many decades and it seems to be stronger than ever. There have been little to no efforts to confront the issue of teen suicide in Native American populations. According to Stephanie Woodward, Native American youth are 9 to 19 times more likely to commit suicide than other racial groups. There have been many factors that have been linked to the cause of such high suicide rates. They have found that some extrinsic factors are extreme poverty, family violence, unemployment, physical abuse, and grief of loss of culture and land. The young people cannot deal with the feeling of hopelessness and feel the only way to break free is to commit suicide.…show more content…
As a nurse I would try encourage the development of after school programs for young people from 12-18 years of age. The after school outreach program should provide a comforting environment for children that will enable them to open up emotionally and feel active in their community. The program can include activities such as building self-esteem, identifying emotions and stress, increasing communication and problem-solving skills, and setting personal and community goals. There should also be an open forum to talk about self-destructive behaviors such as substance abuse and their causes such as depression. There will be counselors at the program if the children need to talk personally what they are going through in their personal life. If children are taught how to openly communicate at an early age they will be more willing to share their emotions. The greatest contribution of the outreach program would be to bring the Native American culture to the youth. There would be a language class where the youth can learn their native language so they do not feel so disconnected from their heritage and will feel a part of their history. There would be story tellers that could teach the youth the stories of their ancestors. Tribal ceremonies should be performed so the children do not lose their sense of culture. One cause of suicide among…show more content…
Instead of just making the client stable and releasing them back to society I feel like there is more outreach and interventions that could help prevent another suicide attempt. As a nurse I would take control of the situation. I would try to open myself to the client and build a rapport so the client would feel comfortable. I would try to talk to the client and find out what the underlying issues are of why they committed suicide. It would also have to be a collaborative effort with other people on the health care team. A psychiatrist may be needed to get into the deeper issues of why the client attempted suicide. They may need to be put on antidepressants if it is a chemical imbalance. If the client needs weekly counseling that would need to be set up by the hospital. I believe that the government should pay for these services if the client cannot afford them. A client that attempts suicide is a medical emergency and is able to be prevented with proper outreach. I would also try to tell the client about outreach programs in the community. I would also tell the client of hotlines they could call if they feel like they want to take their life. If a person is able to talk them out of a crisis situation their life will be
Open Document