Project aims to help school nurses tackle suicide rates

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Researchers in New Mexico, California and Maryland are working with public school nurses in hopes of curbing suicide rates within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community by making school grounds safer. University of New Mexico pediatrics professor Mary Ramos and colleagues at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation and the University of California-San Diego are leading the four-year project. The researchers note that suicide is the second-leading cause of death for teenagers in the U.S. and those rates are three to four times higher for lesbian, gay and transgender students than their peers. The team hopes a model for change led by school nurses will result in more schools creating safe environments. The project is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.