Introduction. Nurses have a higher risk of suicide than people in the general population. However, no studies have been conducted in Poland to assess the risk of suicide among nurses. Psychiatric nurses seem to be at higher risk of suicide due to the nature of their work. Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and the extent to which personal and professional factors were related to suicidal ideation. The study assessed the presence of factors that increase and decrease the risk of suicide among psychiatric nurses. Material and methods. The study design was carried out in accordance with the STROBE guidelines, which used an original questionnaire consisting of 20 questions. The questionnaire was sent electronically to randomly selected psychiatric institutions in Poland. Participation in the survey was completely voluntary and anonymous. The survey was completed by 195 nurses between January and May 2021. The data were then analyzed using descriptive and multivariate statistics. If participants did not answer more than three questions in the survey, they were removed from further analysis.190 completed forms were allowed for analysis. Results. A group of 190 people took part in the study. Most of the participants were women (166; 87%), and only 24 (13%) were men. Over 80% of respondents believed that working with mentally ill people has a negative impact on their health. Suicidal thoughts were most often declared by nurses with suicidal intentions (94%), then nurses taking sedatives (63%), struggling with depression (58%) and addicted to psychoactive substances (50%), drinking alcohol (41%) and not receiving support in the workplace (28%), and in whom work caused anxiety (28%). The respondents who declared that work had no effect on their health did not have suicidal thoughts at all. The occurrence of psychological disorders significantly correlated with the intensification of suicidal thoughts. All respondents who had schizophrenia had frequent suicidal thoughts, while the vast majority of people without mental disorders had no such thoughts (92%). Male nurses (33%) considered taking their own lives more often than female nurses (13%). The way of coping with stress at work had a significant impact on the occurrence of suicidal thoughts. Nurses who used relaxation techniques told their friends and family about their problems, and over 90% of them did not have suicidal thoughts. On the other hand, nurses coping with stress through the use of sedatives (37%), drinking alcohol (59%) or smoking (73%) did not report suicidal thoughts. More than 92% of the respondents, who received support at work from a psychologist or their supervisor, had no suicidal thoughts. Conclusions. Working in psychiatry had a significant impact on the mental health of the respondents. It has been shown that male psychiatric nurses reported suicidal thoughts more often than nurses, the presence of mental problems and behaviours increasing the risk of a suicide attempt. Respondents, who received support from their supervisor, a psychologist or friends, experienced the lowest percentage of suicidal thoughts. Psychiatry work experience, place of employment, level of education, age and marital status of the respondents had no influence on the severity of suicidal thoughts.

Key words: risk factors, suicide, male nurses, psychiatric nurses.