A severely depressed patient who has been on suicide precautions tells the nurse,"I am feeling a lot better,so you can stop watching me.I have taken too much of your time already." The best response for the nurse to make would be:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When a patient seeks to have precautions lifted by professing to feel better,the patient may be seeking greater freedom in which to attempt suicide.Changing the treatment plan requires careful evaluation of outcome indicators by staff.Asking the patient to elaborate could yield further evaluation data but would not reliably address suicide risk.Taking the patient's comment at face value neglects the fact that people can seek to conceal their plans in order to increase their chances of success.Asking the patient to "leave that to the team" conveys a parental attitude that would discourage the patient from participating in his treatment.

A Severely Depressed Patient Who Has Been on Suicide Precautions