The Wrap by Michigan Medicine Headlines · Michigan Medicine Podcast Network

The Wrap - Zero Suicide Initiative

·34 min·3 clips

Youth suicide ER visits have surged 153% in a decade. Here's what one hospital is doing about it.

The episode centers on the Zero Suicide Initiative at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Dan Ellman and Jeremy Fowles introduce the topic as a serious effort to address suicide in the pediatric population. They also point listeners back to last week's episode and the show’s regular Friday headlines. Corey Ziegman joins as Associate Chief Nursing Officer for C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Dr. Nasu Malas joins as Associate Chair for Child Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry. Corey explains that her role spans four general care units, three ICUs, and the child psych unit. The conversation makes clear that this is a hospital-wide effort, not something that lives in one department. The guests describe the initiative as a way to identify the right information, share it well, and focus on priorities that matter across teams. They talk about the importance of gap analysis and the issues that surfaced when the work began. Corey notes that many staff members only encounter the medical side of suicide risk when a patient arrives after an ingestion, which can hide how wide the problem really is. She says one major goal is increasing communication about Zero Suicide and its impact in the community and across health systems. The episode also gets into the practical side of screening. The group is integrating elements into the electronic medical record so documentation and screening are more consistent. They discuss the hard conversation around lowering screening ages in pediatrics. Corey acknowledges how difficult it is to think about screening nine- and ten-year-olds, even though some youth that young are struggling. Both guests come back to the idea that talking about suicide should not be taboo. They emphasize that awareness and communication need to keep growing inside the hospital as the work moves forward. At the end, the show turns back to its usual format with a weekly trivia contest and asks listeners to send in the answer for a chance to win a prize.

As heard by us

A grounded look at how a children's hospital folds suicide prevention into everyday care.

This episode treats pediatric suicide prevention as a set of hospital routines, not a slogan. Corey Ziegman and Dr. Nasu Malas, both at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, talk through the Zero Suicide Initiative in plain language, and the strongest part is the way screening, staff…

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You want a clear window into how a children's hospital tackles suicide risk in pediatrics.

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