Patient death by suicide is a distressing occupational event associated with far-reaching impacts on professional practice and wellbeing. Psychiatrists are commonly tasked with suicide risk assessment and management and ultimately experience greater incidences of patient suicide in comparison with other medical specialists. Therefore, it is important to understand psychiatrists’ experiences of patient suicide and the required supports in an Irish context. This study investigated how patient suicide affects the personal and professional lives of consultant and non-consultant psychiatrists, and what resources/systems psychiatrists find helpful in mitigating the impact of a patient suicide.

Survey data collected from 232 consultants and non-consultant clinicians was analysed using frequency analyses and Independent Samples t-tests,. Most participants were female (61.6%) and the largest age group represented was 50–59 years (28.4% of the sample).

Key personal and professional impacts in the aftermath of a patient’s suicide include pre-occupation with suicide, decreased self-confidence, sadness, burnout, desire for career change/break and fear of negative events following the suicide. A significant difference was observed across gender with respect to sense of responsibility (F = 3.69, dfs = 2,200, p = .026) with females displaying more feelings of responsibility (M = 3.9, SD = 3.1) than males (M = 2.8, SD = 2.7). Support from colleagues and line managers was largely identified as helpful in the aftermath of patient death by suicide.

Ultimately, there is a need for greater access to guidelines/policy and occupational support for psychiatrists to assist their responses. This study provides much-needed insight into the landscape of experiences and needs of psychiatrists in Ireland who experienced a patient death by suicide.

Death of patients by suicide can have powerful effects on psychiatrists. We report the findings of a survey completed by 174 psychiatrists on the effects of patient suicide on their emotional well-being and clinical practice, and the support and resources they felt would be helpful.

The death of a patient by suicide usually had a major effect on respondents. Clinical practice was often negatively affected, and over a quarter of respondents considered a change of career path as a result. There were some gender differences in responses, with women reporting more sense of responsibility for the deaths and a greater effect on their clinical confidence. Desired support included a senior suicide lead clinician, support during formal post-suicide processes, opportunity for reflection on practice, information about resources to support families and help communicating with families and friends of the deceased.