Date of Conferral
5-16-2025
Date of Award
May 2025
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
School
Nursing
Advisor
Melanie Braswell
Abstract
Summary This staff education program focused on addressing a practice deficit regarding nonstandard depression assessment and substandard nurse knowledge of evidence-based screening tools, mainly the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a nine-item, self-reporting test used to screen for depression and assess severity of the condition based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses, 5th Edition. Depression exists as a familiar yet unidentified disorder among psychiatric inpatients, resulting in delayed treatment inferior outcomes. The staff education project targeted the nurses’ knowledge of depression identification while also teaching them to administer the PHQ-9 for prompt screening and intervention. I used an evidence-based staff education program to determine its effects on nursing knowledge of depression and PHQ-9 application. The practice-focused question was: In an inpatient mental health facility, will an evidence-based staff education program on depression and depression screening tools, PHQ-9, improve nurses’ knowledge about depression and its screening tool? Twelve psychiatric nurses participated in the project, completing pre- and posttests before and after a staff education PowerPoint presentation. The data collected were analyzed with descriptive statistics and a paired t-test analysis using the Microsoft Excel statistical program to evaluate the participants’ knowledge progression. The statistical results indicated an increase in nurses’ knowledge by an average 29.17 percentage point gain (p < .001). Potential implications for nursing practice by providing a tool that empowers nurses to assess for depression using the PHQ-9 scale for early detection, monitoring, and diagnosis of depression. Advanced mental health practices promotes social change in patients, families, and communities.
Recommended Citation
Aregbesola, Oluwakemi Omotayo, "Staff Education to Enhance Nurse Knowledge of Depression and Screening Tool Using Patient Health Questionnaire-9" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 17810.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/17810
