The Healthy Working Lives Group is developing a major programme of research on nurse suicide, suicidal distress, occupational health and workplace prevention.
This work brings together two closely connected strands: Crisis Narrative and RESUME: REsearch into Scottish nursing SUicide and Mental health Experience.
Together, these projects seek to understand how suicidal crises develop among nurses, how distress is described, remembered or silenced, and how occupational health can contribute to earlier, more compassionate and evidence-informed prevention.
About the work
Nurses face a higher risk of suicide than people in many other jobs, yet we still do not understand enough about why this risk exists, how it develops over time, or what effective workplace prevention should look like.
Our work addresses this gap by examining nurse suicide and suicidal distress in Scotland between 1980 and 2025, combining historical research, official record analysis, anonymous survey work, oral history and lived experience testimony.
Rather than treating suicide risk as a purely individual clinical issue, this programme explores how work, professional identity, shift patterns, fatigue, burnout, regulatory scrutiny, stigma, help-seeking, workplace culture and organisational pressures may shape suicidal distress.
Crisis Narrative
Crisis Narrative focuses on how nurses experience, describe and make sense of suicidal crises. Read more about the project at the official research page at the Medical Research Foundation – HERE
The project examines how suicidal distress is narrated by nurses themselves, by bereaved families, and by occupational health professionals. It also considers how these experiences may be hidden, minimised or silenced within healthcare workplaces and professional cultures.
This approach is designed to move beyond headline statistics and build a deeper understanding of lived experience, workplace context and missed opportunities for prevention.
RESUME
RESUME is the wider research programme examining suicide and mental health experiences among nurses in Scotland. Find ott more at the official research website – HERE
The programme combines:
- official record analysis to examine patterns of nurse suicide over time;
- anonymous survey research with current and former nurses;
- oral history and lived experience testimony;
- occupational health perspectives on prevention and support;
- analysis of workplace pressures, help-seeking and professional culture;
- development of evidence to inform NHS, policy and occupational health responses.
The aim is to generate better evidence, support earlier intervention, and help create more compassionate and effective suicide prevention responses for nurses.
Medical Research Foundation Fellowship
This work is supported through Dr Simon Walker’s Medical Research Foundation Fellowship:
Understanding how nurses experience and narrate suicidal crises to improve workplace suicide prevention
The Medical Research Foundation describes the project as a University of Glasgow fellowship led by Dr Simon Walker, awarded £338,304, and focused on developing the RESUME project through record analysis, survey research and oral history to better understand suicide among nurses in Scotland between 1980 and 2025.
View the Medical Research Foundation project page
Why this matters
Nurse suicide is an urgent occupational health issue. Nurses often work in high-pressure environments involving emotional labour, exposure to trauma, fatigue, moral distress, regulatory scrutiny and professional expectations around resilience and care.
Yet suicide prevention in healthcare workers cannot rely on warm words, posters and “please be resilient” vibes — the workplace equivalent of putting a plaster on a collapsed bridge.
This programme aims to support a more serious response: one grounded in evidence, lived experience, occupational health practice and structural prevention.
Key themes
- Nurse suicide and suicidal distress
- Occupational health and workplace prevention
- Crisis narratives and lived experience
- Historical analysis of suicide in nursing
- Oral history and testimony
- Help-seeking, stigma and silence
- Fatigue, burnout and moral distress
- Professional identity and workplace culture
- NHS and policy responses
- Compassionate, evidence-informed prevention
Research impact
The findings from Crisis Narrative and RESUME will help inform occupational health practice, NHS policy, nursing organisations and suicide prevention strategy.
The programme aims to improve understanding of how suicidal crises develop, identify where earlier support may be possible, and strengthen workplace systems so that nurses experiencing distress can be recognised, supported and protected more effectively.
The overall goal is simple:
Better evidence. Earlier support. Fewer deaths.
Healthy Working Lives Group 