Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
8-10-2026
First Advisor
Lisa Drake
Second Advisor
Beverly Clark
Abstract
Suicide remains a leading public health concern, and inconsistent application of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) may contribute to variability in suicide risk assessment and delayed intervention within inpatient psychiatric settings. The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a standardized C-SSRS-guided educational intervention on staff competency in suicide risk screening. Guided by Lewin’s Change Theory and implemented using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework, this quantitative pretest-posttest QI project was conducted on an adult inpatient psychiatric unit. The intervention consisted of a 25-minute instructor-led PowerPoint presentation on standardized C-SSRS administration and evidence-based suicide risk screening. Staff competency was measured before and after the intervention using an investigator-developed C-SSRS-Based Suicide Risk Screening Competency Checklist. Eleven staff members were recruited; eight consented; six completed the baseline assessment; and four completed matched pre- and post-intervention competency assessments. Normality of paired difference scores was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test; because normality was met, a paired-samples t test was conducted, with a Wilcoxon signed-rank test performed as a sensitivity analysis due to the small, matched sample. Mean competency scores increased from 24.00 to 35.25, representing an improvement of 11.25 points (46.9%). The paired-samples t test demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in perceived competency (t(3) = 17.88, p < .001). These findings support competency-based education as an effective QI strategy to strengthen standardized suicide risk screening, promote evidence-based psychiatric nursing practice, enhance patient safety, and advance the leadership role of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)-prepared nurse in suicide prevention.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Sangye, Fidelis, "Impacting Competency in C-SSRS Suicide Risk Screening on an Inpatient Psychiatric Unit" (2026). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 375.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/375
