Date of Conferral

10-6-2025

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Ellen Sue

Abstract

Depression is a common mental health issue that is often misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed in primary care practice due to a lack of appropriate screening. The practice problem addressed by this project was the inconsistent use of standardized tools, like the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), which hinders timely and accurate depression diagnosis. The practice-focused question was: Does educating staff impact their knowledge of the recommended use and interpretation of the PHQ-9 and their confidence in administering the tool? I aimed to enhance depression screening practices by educating nursing staff on administering, scoring, and integrating the PHQ-9 into routine patient care. For this project, 14 nurses attended the training sessions and completed the pretest and posttest questionnaires. The results showed a mean percentage knowledge gain of 25.56%, demonstrating a positive empirical increase in knowledge levels. Before the education, only 3 participants (21.4%) reported being confident in administering the PHQ-9. After the education, 12 participants (85.7%) reported being very confident, and 2 participants (14.3%) reported being somewhat confident in using the PHQ-9 for depression symptom screening. These findings indicated that the structured education program increased staff knowledge and confidence in the administration of the PHQ-9. The project positively impacted social change, diversity, equity, and inclusion by facilitating the development of nursing staff knowledge, which allowed staff to educate patients on the importance of depression screening and to promote evidence-based screening practices for the early identification of depression. Educating a diverse staff population may enhance their ability to reach various patient populations and thus promote equity and inclusion in depression screening and management.

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