Date of Award

Spring 2024

Document Type

Project – Full Written

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Committee Chair

Tracy Arnold

Abstract

This DNP Project identified the increased need for mental health resources after the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies showed the rate of anxiety, depression, and substance use has also been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic began to devastate the country mentally and physically, it became quickly apparent that additional resources to provide support for those suffering from mental illness were essential. This project aimed to introduce a Mental Health First Aid course within the Residency Program at the Center for Family Guidance. Participants were asked to complete a pre-test indicating their confidence in identifying, understanding, and responding to the signs and symptoms of mental illness and substance abuse in patients and colleagues. The DNP Project Leader then developed and implemented an educational presentation introducing mental health resource courses to nurse practitioner residents. Following participation in the educational session, nurse practitioner residents were asked to complete one of two mental health resource courses. Eleven participants completed the pre-test survey, and eight participants completed the post-test survey. Due to the small sample size, direct correlations could not be inferred; however, the post-test survey did show an overall increase in confidence in identifying, understanding, responding, communicating, and providing resources for patients and colleagues, among participants who completed the Mental Health First Aid course.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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