Date of Award

Spring 5-2022

Degree Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Leadership and Advanced Nursing Practice

Committee Chair

Dr. Carolyn Coleman

Committee Chair School

Leadership and Advanced Nursing Practice

Committee Member 2

Dr. LaWanda Baskin

Committee Member 2 School

Leadership and Advanced Nursing Practice

Abstract

Poor medication adherence is one of the significant barriers to treatment for depression, often due to fears about side effects and insufficient knowledge among nurses. Educating primary care advanced practice nurses can help to improve understanding about symptoms of depression and the treatment recommendations. Education can help engage the primary care advanced practice nurses to improve patient understanding and thereby support better adherence measured as improved refill rates and follow-up reports. The refill rates will show if the patients under the primary care advanced practice nurses ‘care have been following the medications prescribed in the right frequency and dosage. The follow-ups will help to identify signs of poor medication adherence and promote interventions to improve adherence levels. Better adherence will indicate that the primary care advanced practice nurses can better understand and educate the patients on treatment and safety recommendations. The measures will be collected for 30 days after an educational intervention to the primary care advance practice nursing staff using 50 chart reports from nurses working with veterans diagnosed with depression and newly prescribed antidepressants. The results will indicate whether a better knowledge about depression and antidepressant recommendation can improve patient outcomes in medication adherence, lesser risks of relapse, and better satisfaction of patients.

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