Date of Conferral

11-14-2025

Date of Award

November 2025

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Edna Hull

Abstract

Psychiatric advance directives (PADs) are binding documents through which a patient who has severe mental illness can specify their treatment preferences before becoming mentally ill in a crisis. PADs support patient autonomy, shared decision-making, and reduce the reliance on coercive or involuntary treatments. However, patient record reviews in this practice setting revealed that PAD documentation was not frequently practiced, and nurses were not even aware of or confident enough to assist patients in preparing these directives. This DNP project was designed to bridge this gap by implementing a formal staff education program that would improve the knowledge and awareness of PADs among nurses. The practice question guiding this project was “Will a staff education program on PADs increase nurses’ knowledge and comprehension of PADs as evidenced by pretest and posttest measurements?” The project used a quantitative one-group pretest–posttest design. Fifty-five registered nurses took part in a 2-hour learning session that included interactive discussion, case studies, and multimedia presentations. IBM SPSS Version 29 was used to analyze the data. The results revealed an overwhelming gain in knowledge, with the pretest mean being 2.85 (SD = 1.43) and the posttest mean being 10.00 (SD = 0.00). These results imply that the educational intervention was effective in increasing awareness among the staff in relation to PADs. The project demonstrated that a targeted educational intervention can bridge knowledge gaps and increase the clinical confidence of psychiatric nurses. The project has the potential for promoting positive social change by allowing inclusion and equity for people with mental illness.

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