Preparing for Universal PPD Screening in a Pediatric Outpatient Care Setting

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) quality improvement (QI) project is to prepare healthcare providers at the San Luis Walk-in Clinic in southwest Arizona for possible implementation of a postpartum depression screening protocol within the clinic’s pediatric setting. Background: Postpartum depression is depression occurring during the 12-month postpartum period and occurs in one in seven women who give birth. Postpartum depression has both short-term and long-term health and wellbeing consequences for both mother and baby, and in some cases can be fatal. Postpartum depression is both underdiagnosed and undertreated. Best practice dictates universal screening for postpartum women in both the pediatric and obstetric healthcare setting. Regular screening is already included SLWIC’s women’s health postpartum protocol, but the clinic’s pediatric providers do not screen regularly for postpartum depression. Methods: A 45-minute educational session, with pre- and post-session surveys, was provided via Zoom for HCPs at SLWIC. The session provided HCPs with education on the epidemiology, impact, diagnosis, and treatment of PPD, with special focus placed on best practices for PPD screening. Results: Ten SLWIC pediatric health professionals attended the PPD educational session via Zoom. Nine of the participants consented to participate in the surveys, eight participants completed the pre-survey, and four participants completed the post-survey. Response comparison showed that providers who perceive themselves as knowledgeable were more likely to screen, that the educational intervention led to increased self-reported levels of knowledge, and that participants showed greater understanding of the need to screen for PPD in the pediatric setting after receiving education on postpartum depression. Conclusion: The DNP project shows that brief educational interventions can increase awareness of postpartum depression prevalence, the impact of postpartum depression on women and children, and the need for universal screening. More in-depth interventions should be used to further provider knowledge regarding diagnosis and treatment of postpartum depression. Standardized protocols should outline screening practices at the organizational level. Additional research is needed to describe best practice for implementing organization-wide screening.