Nurses giving out blades - what's your opinion?
 

Well I certainly think it's time we all had a good discussion about something. I don't want v3 to just have more distractions and knobs and levers, I also want it to change in the direction of more substance and intellectual stimulation. Hopefully the news section/forum will be a hotspot for discussion of current affairs, and I will soon be adding some much better and more complete articles there.

Anyway. A little while ago the times reported that RCN (The Royal College of Nursing) have been backing (and now trials are going ahead I hear) a scheme to give out sterile blades to active self harmers.

Those who back it claim it will mean safer tools for those who will self harm anyway, probably with something much worse, and that with a proper support network it can lead to a lower dependancy.

Those against it mock the fact it is a complete U turn in policy for the NHS, and would not encourage people to stop in any way because the support mechanisms will let people down.


What do you think?


Here is the article - from here : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4942834.stm



Nurses back supervised self-harm

By Nick Triggle
BBC News health reporter in Bournemouth


About one in 15 youngsters are believed to have self-harmed

Nurses want to be allowed to let patients who self-harm continue to do so in a safe environment in hospitals.
The Royal College of Nursing is in discussions with regulatory officials about changing nurses' code of conduct.
The move follows news of a scheme in a Staffordshire mental health hospital where adults can keep their blades.
In a debate at their Bournemouth conference, many nurses argued that preventing patients from self-harming made the situation worse.
Controlled self-harm is much, much safer for patients


Jeremy Bore, Exeter prison nurse


Under current rules, nurses feel that are prevented from allowing patients to continue self-harming because they are meant to minimise risk.
But early indications from the pilot at St George's Hospital in Stafford show that allowing self-harm to continue to do so, as part of care plan, can reduce a patient's dependence.
The pilot, which allows patients to keep blades and implements and provides them with cleaning equipment, is not expected to be completed until the end of the year.
But RCN mental health adviser Ian Hulatt said he would be taking the "strong message" heard at the Royal College of Nursing's conference to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
'Managing feelings'
The majority of nurses supported calls to allow some form of safe self-harm to continue for adult patients who cut themselves.
They pointed out that drug users were provided with syringes and needles to help them use drugs safely.
The debate focussed on adults who self-harm, but nurses also acknowledged children cut and burnt themselves.
Nurses said about 500,000 people self-harm in the UK, some of whom were harming themselves in secret on their thighs, abdomens and arms often in a bid to cope with the trauma of previous abuse or problems.
Nurse consultant Chris Holley, who is involved in the Staffordshire pilot, said: "It is not about all people who self-harm. It is not about handing out cutting implements. It is about people who manage their feelings."
She said for this group of people it was about giving relief and reducing suicidal thoughts.
'Cheap-fix'
Lisa Lester, a nurse from Gloucestershire, said: "Nurses have a critical role in treating the physical and mental health damage and in some cases that may mean allowing safe self-harm."
And prison nurse Jeremy Bore, from Exeter, said it was also a problem in prisons, saying he saw many prisoners who tried to sneak blades into jail by hiding them in their bottoms.
"Controlled self-harm is much, much safer for patients." But Jenifer Clarke-Moore, of the RCN's mental health practice forum, said: "My concern is that this is leading us up the garden path." She said allowing self-harm was a "cheap-fix solution" to a complex problem. Instead, she added, "evidence-based interventions which promote health" would be better.

i think it's okay.
they're not encouraging selfharm.

I think it's a bit of a silly idea, personally.

I think it's pretty f*cked up, but what else do you expect from this country?

If I went to hospital because of self harm, the last thing I'd want would be a clean blade.

Say if someone goes to hospital from hurting themslves badly, they get a clean blade- they go home and do it again. Go back to hospital. Repeat cycle!

I think it's stupid. I don't expect anyone to agree with me.

when i was IP i had a care plan around my self-harm and it was if i wanted to self-harm then i could but i would have to go on one 2 one for 30mins and after the 30mins i had to give the nurse my blade.
it worked for me and ive been self-harm free for 10weeks, i think it really helped me to control my self-harm.

Ollie, i completely agree.

Its kind of the same as the needle exchange for heroin addicts.
You would have to assume that these nurses wouldnt just give a person a blade and send them on their way.
surely its twinned with professional help.
Its better to be safe i guess.

but.. how many people here would actively go to a nurse and ask for something they could cut with?

well. i was assuming that the nurses just didn't give it out to kids who came in that needed stitches.
but people who they KNEW was going to do it again, or was threatening to do it again.
heh. i don't really see the problem. i think if some kid went into a&e cos they needed stitches from si, it's not like thats their first time. or it's gunna be their last. they might as well do it somewhat safely.
&i think it also prob. builds trust/a sortof respect/friendship between the nurse & the "kid," which can't be a bad thing, i guess.

Cheers Nat!

Ha, no problem.

I think it's a bit retarded.
But y'know... this is the National Health Service we're talking about... it's cheaper to give out clean blades than to offer self harmers actual psychiatric help.

I agree with Juneau a bit, but also I think it is a better idea than letting people wander off and then using old, soiled blades, as that can lead to more damage being caused or being a greater danger

if it helps people, then its a good thing

would be interesting to see results from the trial really =)

I worry that the subjects in the trial will get first rate after care, and those patients it is used on in the real world will get the same service they do now - just with an everlasting supply of sharps

And I worry that 12 year old kids who have heard people hurt themselves to look cool will think it's even more okay if it is being condoned by the NHS

I think it has a lot of potential to work, but I also feel in the real world it is doomed and is really, as others have said a cheap fix.

The other concern to add is how they judge when to give someone baldes. Perhaps they self harmed after they had a bad split up in a fit of rage for their first time - do they then get a supply which is bound to turn it into a coping mechanism. And what if someone comes in having been using a pencil sharpener blade - do they then really get 2 inch surgical scalpel blades?


Harley

I guess it stops risks of infection really, doesn't it?

But...do they really deserve clean blades? I don't think they do.

I don't think junkies deserve clean blades.

There are all kinds of help avaliable. Giving someone who isn't exactly mentally stable a damn blade isn't exactly wise.

Like, last week in Birmingham, they were giving away knives in Debenhams. Do they want knife crime to go up or something?!

Well if the person is going to continue cutting anyway, why not encourage them to do it safely? It's not like they're just going to hand blades to any person who self harms.
I can see both sides, but I don't think it's a bad idea - once they're also trying to provide support for the self harmer. Handing out blades instead of offering support and trying to sort out the underlying issues would be stupid.

whe we were younger, and in town and bored, we used to go to the connexions or the gum clinic and get loads of free condoms, for fun, just cos we could and we thought we were daring.

I hope 'kids' dont do the same wih blades.

It's encouraging it! You shouldn't encourage self harm at all! Clean blade or not.

i wonder what 12/13 year old self harmers parents would think.

I think giving out blades to self harmers is a world of difference to giving out clean needles to heroin addicts. Its not like the NHS give heroin addicts heroin, they just give them the equipment to be safe while taking it.

If they gave out blades to self harmers they'd be new, they'd be clean but they'd be sharp hence people could do more damage to themselves. Personally I'd be disturbed by a nurse giving me blades, I'd see it as an invitation to cut myself.

What they should do is give self harmers the stuff to treat themselves after they have cut themselves, like badnages and antiseptic. It wouldnt prevernt it happening but it'd prevent the risk of infection which is far better. And really I must say the one thing I've learnt from cutting myself for years is how to treat a cut properly, so being given the proper tools to treat it properly would be a godsent. it's not like being given bandages would encourage it either...

Off topic, but I'm confused- feel free to slander me...

The heading on the forum index for General Chat says that here should be no self harm discussion....so why are there so many SI threads in here right now??

Maybe I've missed something *shrug*