Date of Conferral

11-11-2025

Date of Award

November 2025

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Corinne Romano

Abstract

Summary The ineffective use of the PHQ-9 tool to assess depression during primary care was the problem that this quality improvement project aimed to resolve, which is a hindrance to timely diagnosis and equitable behavioral health care. Inconsistent use of screening of depression was tackled in the project. The treatment and detection of it at its early stages were constrained by gaps in provider knowledge and confidence. The project assessed the effect of a formal staff educational intervention to increase knowledge, confidence, and the probability of incorporating the PHQ-9 depression screening tool into the workflow of a primary care clinic. The project was guided by the question, How does provider education influence staff knowledge and confidence in the use of PHQ-9 to screen depression in primary care? This involved a staff training session delivered through a PowerPoint presentation, interactive discussion, and pre/post surveys. The findings of the pre-survey indicated that there was a gap in provider knowledge (45%) and confidence (40%) associated with depression screening and that a systematic education can be used to increase knowledge. The post-survey findings revealed that there were notable increases in provider knowledge (85%) and confidence (90%), which showed that the educational intervention was successful in promoting the use of evidence-based practices in relation to depression screening. Recommendations are the incorporation of PHQ-9 templates in EHR, role-based workflow development and refresher training. These outcomes demonstrate that structured education is a contributor to nursing practice. Early diagnosis of depression for all patients supports inclusion and promotes social change through the reduction of stigma and disparities in mental health care.

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