Nursing strategies for suicide prevention in psychiatric care units: care to motion

Abstract

Suicide remains an extraordinary public health challenge and an acute institutional emergency, particularly within closed psychiatric inpatient units. Individuals admitted to these units face highly volatile psychiatric crises, experiencing profound distress alongside acute symptoms of severe mental illnesses. Frontline psychiatric nurses occupy a crucial operational role; their 24-hour proximity allows them to design, implement, and lead robust surveillance and clinical protective models. This comprehensive review evaluates nursing strategies for suicide prevention under an intentional clinical philosophy termed "Care to Motion"—a model advocating a rapid, structured transition from passive tracking to active, person-cantered therapeutic intervention. By analysing contemporary evidence-based assessment frameworks, structural environmental updates, specialized relational communication models, and modern technological tools, this paper establishes a systematic approach to preventing inpatient self-harm. In doing so, it accounts for practical realities such as chronic understaffing, clinical burnout, and ethical balancing acts. Ultimately, this review bridges theoretical models and bedside practices, providing clear guidelines to reduce sentinel events and establish a sustainable culture of safety in psychiatric units worldwide.