Date of Award
Spring 4-30-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
First Advisor
Deborah MacMillan PhD, RNC, CNM
Second Advisor
Damian Francis, PhD
Third Advisor
Corey Claxton, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC
Abstract
PTSD affects 3.6% of the United States adult population about 9 million people each year. Studies have found that 52% of the mental health population seen by healthcare providers who met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD are often undiagnosed. This quality improvement clinical project conducted at two military ambulatory clinics in the southeastern United States, aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention in improving post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screenings and outpatient referrals among healthcare providers in ambulatory settings. Specific goals were to improve ambulatory providers' awareness and utilization of PTSD screening instruments in patients experiencing PTSD. The secondary goal was to increase the number of medical referrals. A one-hour educational training session was provided to 40 healthcare providers 100% of the workforce was trained that reinforced current policies and evidenced-based guidelines utilized in the practice regarding screening and referrals for PTSD. The project used a pretest and posttest survey to evaluate baseline knowledge with a comparison to post-educational intervention evaluation on their knowledge of PTSD and screening tools. The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks nonparametric paired sample test for knowledge pre-post intervention scores (M 6.23, SD 1.954) to one-month Post-test (M 9.73, SD .599); showed changes in score rankings at baseline and one month as significant improvement (Z=5.53, p=0.01). Analysis of data from screening tools showed a significant increase in scores from the pre-test (M 2.80, SD .911) to the one-month post-test (M 2.00 SD .000), t (39) = 5.51, p < .001. A scale was designed to measure the provider’s self-efficacy after the educational intervention using a 9-item, Likert-style scale. Each item was rated on a 7-point Likert scale based on participants' responses (“1” as strongly disagree, “2” slightly disagree, “3” disagree, “4” neither disagree nor agree, “5” agree, “6” slightly agree, and “7” as strongly agree). Analysis showed a mean score of 5.23, a low confidence level of 6.05 high confidence level in their ability to respond to PTSD in clinical practice. The results of this quality improvement clinical project supported its usefulness in that an educational intervention does improve healthcare providers' knowledge of PTSD.
Keywords: post-traumatic stress disorders, Veterans Health Administration, screenings, healthcare providers
Recommended Citation
Simon, Avis, "Effectiveness of an educational intervention on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Screenings for Healthcare Providers in Ambulatory Settings" (2024). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects. 79.
https://kb.gcsu.edu/dnp/79
Knowledge Box Non-Exclusive Deposit Agreement
Clinical Project Final Approval Form.pdf (2106 kB)
Clinical Project Final Approval Form