Development and evaluation of nurse leader directed depression screening program in an adult primary care practice
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/66cmft87Keywords:
depression, screening, PHQ-9Abstract
Depression remains underdiagnosed in primary care despite national screening recommendations. This quality improvement project evaluated the impact of embedding the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) into an electronic health record (EHR) in an adult primary care clinic. Using a pre–post design and Plan-Do-Study-Act framework, screening rates increased from 29.8% to 75.28%, with a corresponding rise in referrals for treatment (1.75% to 8.71%). Statistical analysis demonstrated significant differences between groups (p < .001). Findings support EHR-integrated screening as an effective, scalable strategy to improve detection and management of depression and advance nurse-led practice transformation.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Dr. Hershaw Davis, Jr., DNP, MBA, RN, Dr. Kathryn Leach, DNP, CPNP-PC , Dr. Hazel Jones-Parker, DNP, MSN, AP, RN, BC, FNP, Dr. Njideka Udochi, MD, MPH, FAAFP
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
