Date of Conferral

7-9-2024

Date of Award

July 2024

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Barbara Barrett

Abstract

The global spotlight on mental illness has challenged healthcare providers to enhance their assessment and diagnosis of various mental health conditions like Bipolar Affective Disorder. Bipolar Affective Disorder (BPAD) is a serious mental illness characterized by severe mood swings ranging from depression to mania, often leading to high rates of suicide and disability. There is a significant gap of 8-10 years between the initial primary care visit and the diagnosis of BPAD leading to delayed treatment and worsening outcomes. The lack of use and/or knowledge of primary care providers on the use of assessment tools, such as the mood disorder questionnaire (MDQ), to identify patients with BPAD is crucial for promoting early diagnosis and initiating treatment. To address this issue, this educational project sought to educate staff in a private primary care practice about using the MDQ for bipolar disorder as a screening and diagnostic tool. The Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model guided the staff education program, which incorporated a pretest/posttest design to assess staff knowledge before and after education. The Brigham Women’s test of averages formula was used to calculate participants’ learning gain between the pretest and posttest scores. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the project data, which revealed a substantial learning gain between the pretest and the posttests and a 32.5% mean score increase. This project has the potential to improve BPAD diagnosis accuracy and reduce misdiagnoses, promote early detection, and timely treatment of BPAD, which can ultimately improve healthcare quality and reduce costs, which can positively impact social change.

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