Self-harm, young people and nursing

Abstract

Nurses in schools, hospitals, prisons and community settings may come into contact with children and young people who harm themselves. This chapter explores some of the myths and realities about self-harm and uses an evidence-based framework to guide nurses who are required to assess, treat and support such children in both frontline services and residential settings. Self-harm is heterogeneous, which means it that it means different things to different people, therefore current evidence for the assessment of self-harm and clinical interventions are discussed. The development of mental health nursing in relation to self-harm is also described here and case vignettes are used to illustrate the different ways in which self-harm is understood and how a variety of nursing interventions can be used to meet young people's needs.