By asking the patient if she is thinking of hurting herself, the nurse determines if the patient is depressed and serious enough to make a plan to end her life. If the patient has a plan, the nurse knows to make an immediate referral to a mental health provider. Saying, “I have days like that as well” closes the conversation and can feel minimizing to the patient’s expression of feelings. “Can you tell me more about that?” does not enable that nurse to directly assess if the patient has a suicidal plan. “That feel will be gone by tomorrow” does not enable further communication and signals to the patient that her feelings are not significant.