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September is National Suicide Prevention Month
Greetings from NAPNAP Partners/The Alliance to Prevent Youth Suicide (APYS)
September was first declared National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in 2008. Since then, this month has been a time each year to focus prevention efforts on a leading cause of death among young children, adolescents and young adults. NAPNAP Partners encourages all families, communities and health care providers, including pediatric-focused APRNs, to heighten their awareness of this issue and strengthen their skills in suicide prevention.
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Youth Suicide is Preventable
Suicide is the second leading cause of death in youth from 10 to 24 years, and the fifth leading cause of death in children from 5 to 12 years of age. In 2019, 17% of high school students reported suicidal ideation in the past year and 7.4% reported suicide attempts. Although many who attempt or die from suicide are not receiving mental health treatment at the time of the attempt, most have seen a primary care provider during the year before the attempt.
NAPNAP Partners for Vulnerable Youth, through its Alliance to Prevent Youth Suicide initiative, is committed to providing all pediatric-focused APRNs with the latest information and skill development on suicide screening, assessing children and youth who screen positive, developing safety plans, increasing protective factors and decreasing risk for suicidal youth. Our APYS champions presented a workshop at the 2022 NAPNAP conference and have presented four additional workshops including suicide prevention skills, between June and September. In addition, we have submitted three concurrent proposals and one pre-conference workshop to NAPNAP's 2023 conference - stay tuned for more.
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Suicide Prevention Tools and Resources
NAPNAP Mental Health Resources
NAPNAP Partners’ parent organization, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, provides a wealth of information and resources on suicide prevention and mental health on its website:
Mental Health Facts
Behavioral and Mental Health Resources
PedsCESM Course
Alarmed about increasing numbers of young people contemplating or attempting suicide? Learn evidenced-based approaches to preventing this tragic loss of young life by taking our PedsCESM course, Moving Toward Upstream Prevention: Comprehensive Approaches to Address Youth Suicide. Taught by APYS Champions Laura Searcy and Katie Erdlitz, attendees of this session will leave with increased knowledge, tools and resources to assist in addressing this critical issue.
New 988 Emergency Number
July 2022 saw the rollout of the national 988 mental health emergency hotline, which links callers to the nearest mental health crisis helplines and ultimately to trained mental health teams to support suicidal youth and other individuals facing a variety of mental health emergencies. 988 is expected to field over 24 million calls, chats and text messages by 2027, reducing the burden on local police and emergency rooms while improving care for those in crisis. Learn more by reading an informative article by APYS Champion Shawna Sisler.
American Academy of Pediatrics Blueprint
NAPNAP has endorsed the American Academy of Pediatrics 2022 Blueprint for Youth Suicide Prevention, which includes direct screening of all children ages 12 and up and selected screening and assessment of younger children.
ASQ Toolkit
The National Institute of Mental Health offers a Youth ASQ, Ask Suicide-Screening Questions, toolkit with informative resources and available downloads for health care providers and families in a variety of languages.
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The Alliance to Prevent Youth Suicide – a NAPNAP Partners Initiative
Our Vision
We envision a society where all youth are valued and heard for exactly who they are, and where they receive the necessary resources and support to flourish.
Our Mission
Our mission is to prevent youth suicide through evidence-based behavioral screening, support and interventions, amplifying the diverse voices of youth, promoting resilience, and advocating for decreased stigma and improved access to mental health services.
We aim to promote safety for youth at-risk for suicide by:
- Providing pediatric-focused advanced practice nurses with the knowledge and skills to optimize prevention, screening, intervention, management, support, and referral of youth struggling with suicidal thoughts and behaviors
- Promoting suicide prevention strategies that increase awareness and access to mental health supports, increase safety, and decrease access to lethal means
- Collaborating with strategic partners to increase awareness and build resiliency, both in the home and in the community.
Our Strategic Priorities – Two-Year Tiered Implementation
- Education and evidence-based practice
- Strategic partnerships
- Advocacy and policy
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Meet the Alliance to Prevent Youth Suicide Champions
Champion Chair
Pam Lusk, DNP, PMHNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
Champion Co-Chair
Naomi Shapiro, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC
Champions
Katie Erdlitz, DNP, CRNP, CPNP-PC, PMHS
Stephanie Evans, PhD, APRN, CPNP-PC
April Fortenberry, CPNP-PC, PMHS
Jennifer Livingston, APRN, CPNP-PC, SANE-P
Amee Moreno, CPNP-PC/AC
Laura Searcy, MN, APRN, PPCNP-BC, FAANP
Shawna Sisler, PhD. MAPP, C-PNP-PC
If you are interested in volunteering, email Eileen Arnold-Ley at earnold@napnap.org.
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Articles by Partners and Champions
Searcy, L. & Lusk, P. (in press). 2022 Blueprint for Youth Suicide Prevention: An Urgent Call to Action for All Clinicians. JNP The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. www.npjournal.org.
Cottrell, D., Gonzalez, J., Atchison,P., Evans, S., & Stokes, A. "Suicide risk and prevention in LGBTQ+ youth". Nursing 2022: February 2022 - Volume 52 - Issue 2 - p 40-45
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Show Your Support
Donate
You can donate to our GoFundMe campaign to support our efforts. Proceeds will benefit the Alliance for Children in Foster Care, the Alliance for Children in Trafficking, and the Alliance to Prevent Youth Suicide. Your donations go directly to help engage and equip advanced practice nurses across the country to effectively respond to these vulnerable populations!
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Are you an online shopper? Make your purchases go further by selecting NAPNAP Partners for Vulnerable Youth as your charity of choice on Amazon Smile! You shop, Amazon gives. Click here to sign up.
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Facebook Fundraiser
Do you have a birthday or other special event coming up? Create a Facebook fundraiser and ask your friends to support NAPNAP Partners. Your generosity will be much appreciated!
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NAPNAP Partners Founding Members—Thank You for Your Support!
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
Academic Pediatric Association
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association of Nurse Practitioners
American Nurses Association
American Organization of Nursing Leadership
American Pediatric Surgical Nurses Association
Asian American Pacific Islander Nurses Association
Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
Children’s Hospital Association
Emergency Nurses Association
HEAL Trafficking, Inc.
National Association of Hispanic Nurses-Illinois
National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health
National Association of School Nurses
National Nurse-Led Care Consortium
National Student Nurses’ Association
Organization for Associate Degree Nursing
Partnership for Male Youth
Pediatric Nursing Certification Board
School-Based Health Alliance
Shared Hope International
Society of Pediatric Nurses
National, state and local organizations focused on improving the health and safety of vulnerable children are welcome to become a partner of NAPNAP Partners or a supporter of the Alliance. There are no fees or dues to become a partner.
*Founding Partners: Please send your organization’s updates to info@napnappartners.org and we’ll be happy to include them in future newsletters
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