Date of Award
4-2020
Document Type
Project Paper
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
Nursing
Program Affiliation
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
First Advisor
Dr. Mary Rivard
Second Advisor
Dr. Michelle MacDonald
Abstract
Background: Despite advancements in research, increased efforts to identify “best practices” for suicide prevention, and the subsequent development of evidence-based interventions, suicide trends continue to rise at epidemic proportions. Objective: The project’s purpose is to highlight the significance and benefit of utilizing and implementing evidence-based research interventions into the primary investigator’s outpatient psychiatric organization. Goal: The project’s goal is to determine if provider-specific education on suicide screening enhanced the provider’s comfort level, knowledge-base, and otherwise positively impacted their plan for future implementation of such tools that would ultimately assist in the early detection of at-risk patients. Methods: The project used a quasi-experimental, one-group, pre/post intervention design. Data were collected during a three-month period that consisted of nominal, demographic information as well as scale data that were gathered for comparisons between the pre- and post-education surveys (n=18, five of which are nurse practitioners and thirteen of which are psychiatrists). Four of the eight pre- and post-education survey statements showed statistically significant improvement; the means of the remaining four pre- and post-education surveys remained ostensibly unchanged. The descriptive statistics concerning the usefulness of the project were M = 8.72, SD = 1.526, and the coefficient-of-variation was 17.50%. Conclusion: Given that significant differences in pre- and post-education ratings were detected in four of the most important statements with regard to provider’s comfort level, knowledge level, and intention to implement future suicide screening into practice, the results revealed a main theme of enhanced comfort, knowledge, and future plans to integrate such tools.
Recommended Citation
Doddato, Elizabeth A., "Maximizing Mental Health with Early Detection in the Outpatient Setting: Provider Education on Suicide Screening" (2020). Nursing Capstones. 378.
https://commons.und.edu/nurs-capstones/378