title: Advanced practice nurse psychiatric bridging intervention.
abstract: Depression is a prevalent and treatable condition; however, extensive waiting periods for treatment are associated with high failure to attend initial psychiatric evaluation (IPE) appointments. This article describes the development, implementation, and pilot evaluation of the Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) Psychiatric Bridging Intervention. The project was grounded in Peplau's theory of interpersonal relations and designed to provide supportive psychoeducational counseling and initiation of psychotropic medication for clients with depressive symptoms during the time between intake and IPE. Project development was guided by Roger's Diffusion of Innovations framework used for adopting an evidence-based innovation into an organization. A two-group design allowed comparison of preintervention clients (38 clients who received standard care) and intervention clients (19 clients who participated in the bridging intervention). The difference in IPE appointment attendance rates between the two groups approached statistical significance (p = 0.08). An unanticipated finding was that APN Psychiatric Bridging Intervention clients required only 30-minute IPE appointments compared to the typical 60-minute appointment.
authors.affiliation: Brown County Community Treatment Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA. laurie.schaumberg@nwtc.edu
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schaumberg
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Narayan
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D057179:Advanced Practice Nursing; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000451:nursing; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing; D017664:Uncompensated Care; D014850:Waiting Lists; D014922:Wisconsin
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents