HJNO Nov/Dec 2025

38 NOV / DEC 2025 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS NURSING COLUMN NURSING A Silent Epidemic Like hypertension, the higher-than-nor- mal risk of suicide in the nursing profes- sion has been likened to a silent epidemic. There are many reasons for that descrip- tion. Firstly, much of the attention placed on mental health distress and the occupation- al stress of practicing medicine, particu- larly during the Covid epidemic, has been focused on physicians. That’s despite the reality that nurses are at the bedside 24/7, where they are more continuously ex- posed to patient suffering, death, and trau- ma than their physician colleagues. Secondly, the nursing shortage means nurses are working long hours and double shifts, and staffing ratios for acutely ill pa- tients are such that burnout and physical exhaustion are commonplace.The realities NURSING has always been considered the “caring profession,” and nurses are admired for their integrity, resilience, problem-solving abilities, work-around solutions, and compassion. But, sadly, for some nurses, the stresses that come with that reputation put them at higher risk for suicide. A recent article published in the Decem- ber 2024 edition of the Journal of Nursing Administration cites nurses as experienc- ing a higher risk of suicide than the gen- eral population. Unfortunately, the suicide rates among nurses are given much less attention than those of physicians, despite the fact that nurses spend a much greater percentage of time in direct contact with patients and are thus subject to high lev- els of stress, trauma, and what has been labeled compassion fatigue. 1 The article authors cite a limited amount of data since 2018, but the results of their retrospective cohort design provide the following significant results: • Female nurses had higher suicide rates than non-nurses from 2018 to 2021. • Male nurses had comparable suicide rates to non-nurses during the same time. • Nurses experienced greater mental health problems and job problems, and were more likely to use poison- ing as the instrument of attempted suicide. • Nurses had higher incidence of opi- oid use, cardiovascular and diabetic drug use, and drugs not prescribed for home use. NURSE SUICIDE: AN UNS E EN CR I S I S