Nurses have traditionally encouraged people to live, regardless of the meaning or consequences of continued life for the client. Despair profound enough to lead to a suicide attempt is viewed as an illness that must be cured. Nurses, as well as physicians, subscribe to the maxim primum non nocere (first, do no harm), although it may not be as clearly articulated in the canons of the nursing profession as it is in those of medicine. Nurses, for the most part, operate under the belief that suicide is always both mentally unhealthy and morally wrong; thus all efforts are made to prevent suicide. The idea that life is good and worthwhile and must be preserved at all costs applies to a wide variety of clients, including those who engage in behaviors that will probably lead to serious illness or death (e.g., overeating, smaoking, and suicide).