title: Improving Quality Outcomes in Veteran-Centric Care.
abstract: The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing and the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center (BVAMC) created a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Residency Continuity Clinic tasked with providing Veteran-centric mental health outpatient treatment informed by measurement-based care (MBC) to provide quality outcomes. Approved by the BVAMC, the UAB Institutional Review Board also approved and exempted the project as quality improvement. PMHNP residents administered the Patient Stress Questionnaire (PSQ)-an MBC tool that incorporates validated tools for assessing depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, alcohol use, and pain-to each Veteran from March to August 2016. Patient outcomes focused on depression and anxiety. PSQ scores were reviewed retrospectively via descriptive statistics, paired t tests, and Wilcoxon signed ranks tests. Analysis showed improvement in depression and anxiety that approached significance, and in several national Veterans Affairs mental health performance measures, reinforcing the importance of using MBC in psychiatric assessment. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 55(1), 37-44.].
authors.forename: Tristan T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Tave
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Wyers
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schreiber-Jones
authors.forename: Susanne A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Fogger
authors.forename: Teena M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: McGuinness
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000407:Alabama; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans; D006801:Humans; D007397:Internship, Nonmedical; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000193:education*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000193:education*; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*