The Presence of Suicidal Thoughts and Their Connection with Loneliness in Nurses in Social, Family and Romantic Context

Aim. The aim of this research was to examine suicidalthoughts and their differences between nursingstudents and nurses, their correlation with sociodemographicvariables and loneliness, and the contributionof sociodemographic factors to suicidal thoughtsin both groups.Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted ona sample of nurses and nursing students. A total of144 respondents participated in the online surveyconducted in October 2023. A total of 113 (78.5%)employed nurses, who were not engaged in studies,and 31 (21.5%) nursing students participated inthe research. The median age of the students was20 years, while the median age of the nurses was32 years. Suicidal thoughts were assessed using theSuicidal Ideation Attributes Scale, and loneliness wasmeasured with the Social and Emotional LonelinessScale.Results. Significantly higher levels of suicidalthoughts were found in nursing students comparedto nurses (p=0.047). It was shown that significantpredictors of suicidal thoughts in nurses include theassessment of health status (p<0.001) and socialloneliness (p=0.048), while significant predictors ofsuicidal thoughts in nursing students include the assessmentof financial status (p=0.008), and familyloneliness (p<0.001).Conclusion. The results indicated that suicidalthoughts were low in both nurses and nursing students,but significantly higher in students. Familyloneliness and financial status were significant predictors of suicidal thoughts in students, while socialisolation and self-assessed health status were keypredictors in nurses.