Date of Award

Summer 2024

Project Type

Thesis

College or School

CHHS

Department

Nursing

Program or Major

Direct Entry Master's of Nursing

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

Elizabeth Evans

Second Advisor

Pamela Kallmerten

Abstract

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most prevalent psychological condition to affect mothers following childbirth which can have detrimental consequences on the physical and mental health of the mother, child, and spouse (Wang et al., 2021). Globally, postpartum depression affects 17.2% of the world population, and in the United States 1 in 8 women who recently gave birth reported symptoms of PPD, and 1 in 10 women reported experiencing a major depressive episode within a year following delivery (CDC, 2023). Patients’ spouses and family members are in a unique position to identify early manifestations of PPD which can lead to necessary intervention early enough to protect not only the mother, but also the baby (Pebryatie et al., 2022).

Local Problem: Discharge education in the microsystem did not include any specific information about PPD, and all the education given was geared toward the patient specifically, with little-to-no education given to the support person(s).

Methods: An intervention was created consisting of an educational sheet including the signs and symptoms of PPD to be provided to the patient’s support person, and in-depth education regarding PPD taught by the RN during the discharge teaching period. The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model was used to test the intervention over 2 weeks, and measures for data collection involved both pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys.

Results: Prior to implementing the intervention, 100% of microsystem staff strongly disagreed that current discharge education about PPD was adequate and being taught to patients’ support people, compared to post-intervention where 100% of responses changed to strongly agree with those two statements. Following implementation of the intervention, 100% of staff strongly agreed that the information sheet was easy to understand and utilize, and that it contained no extraneous information that needed to be removed. Regarding if the information sheet was missing any important information that should be included, 78% staff answered no, 17% answered maybe, and 6% answered yes. There was an increase in patient preparedness to be discharged with 78% of respondents strongly agreeing and 22% somewhat agreeing, and 94% of staff members felt very confident in providing the information during discharge education whereas only 6% felt somewhat confident.

Conclusion: The specific aim of achieving having 75% of the nursing staff provide the education sheet and associated teaching to patients’ support person(s) during the discharge period was met and surpassed, with 100% of staff providing the intervention on the unit. The results of this study suggest that creating standardized education sheets focused on a specific topic is a simple yet effective way to reduce knowledge gaps patients experience and ease anxiety surrounding discharge home and the postpartum period. Recommendations for further studies to be conducted include identifying the most effective method of delivering discharge education, addressing the creation of an evidence-based standardized PPD education sheet, and examining the role of patients’ support person(s) once they leave the hospital.

Keywords: Postpartum depression, Partner, Support person, Education, Intervention, Postnatal, Mental health, and Discharge.

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