Liberating burdensomeness of suicide survivorship loss: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis

Aims and objectives What is an interpreted and synthesised understanding of responses of survivors to a suicide death of a close person? Background It is well known that survivors of suicide loss who are in a close relationship with the deceased are at high risk for suicidality and health conditions. Nurses in various settings need evidenced‐informed approaches to encounter these vulnerable persons and support their healing journey from postvention to prevention. Design The design is reflexive and iterative. Method A Critical Interpretive Synthesis comprised of six phases: formulating the review question; searching literature; sampling; determining quality; extracting data; interpretive synthesis. Qualitative content analysis was also. Results Based on a sample of 15 published full‐text qualitative and quantitative nursing research studies published between 1990 and 2016, an aggregated, interpreted and synthesised understanding of responses of survivors of suicide loss to the suicide death of a close person emerged. Four synthesised concepts were: dreading burden of suicide risk and stigma; facing burdensomeness in the aftermath of suicide death; enduring being burdened‐unburdened, striving to invest in living; and liberating burdensomeness, journeying toward healing. Conclusions Contextually, geo‐cultural gaps exist in published nursing studies. Most studies were from North American and a few from Asia. The reported suicide deaths occurred over a wide range of time. Conceptually, four synthesised concepts can be viewed as a process of moving from burdensomeness to liberating burdensomeness. Methodologically, a small body of knowledge that met quality appraisal was interpreted and synthesised into an understanding of an evidenced‐informed approach to guide nurses' encounters with survivors of suicide loss. Relevance to clinical practice The results contribute to an evidenced‐informed approach for nurses in practice to support survivors of suicide loss journeying from burdensomeness to liberating burdensomeness. Results also serve as a foundation for further research.