Improving Nursing Practice for Perinatal Mood Disorders

Perinatal mood disorder can affect mothers in the antepartum and post-partum phase of pregnancy. Nurses need to be educated on the risk factors, signs, screening tools, and management methods to provide excellent patient care. The purpose of this project was to implement education used to improve nursing practice for patients that experience perinatal mood disorders. Early recognition and management is essential for patient care. Patients that experience perinatal mood disorder do not always report symptoms. This is often out of fear their ability to care for the child or children at home will be questioned if signs of perinatal mood disorder are reported to the nurse. Patients need to feel comfortable in sharing their feelings. Educating nurses to effectively screen patients is key. Educating nurses on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) would assist in recognizing risk factors and signs of perinatal mood disorder. The EPDS and PHQ-9 screening tools are recommended for screening antepartum and postpartum mothers. Managing patients experiencing perinatal mood disorder is crucial in their care. There are resources that can be provided to the patient to assist in managing their symptoms. Creating education for nurses that focus on perinatal mood disorder is important in delivering high-quality patient care