Suicide is a stark word that provokes a deluge of emotions in all of us, including community nurses and society at large, both on a personal/community and professional level. Suicide provokes a wide range of questions and has many ramifications that ripple outwards. It can cause consternation on the part of the community practitioner by questioning themselves and their actions and also on the part of the families and friends while coping with grief
and all asking, among other things, should I have acted or spoken differently. Suicide and attempted suicide impacts all of us, our colleagues, our patients and ourselves.