Use of a Behavioral Health Diagnostic Guide in an NP Program

Use of a Behavioral Health Diagnostic Guide in a Family Nurse Practitioner Program The World Health Organization has long promoted the integration of mental health into the primary care setting. With passage of the Affordable Care Act and development of the patient-centered medical home the integration of mental health services into primary care has the potential to now become the standard of care. These changes in care delivery has highlighted a weakness in most advance practice family nurse practitioner (FNP) programs, the educational preparation of FNP students to appropriately diagnosis and treat patients with mental health diagnoses in a primary care setting. A focused behavioral health (BH) diagnostic guide was developed using mnemonics and other prompts to educate students in the accurate diagnoses of mental health conditions commonly seen in the primary care setting. The objectives of the guide were to assist students to 1) recognize and evaluate BH problems; 2) utilize the Mental Status Exam to facilitate systematic evaluation and documentation; 3) identify criteria for when a psychiatric or emergency referral is necessary; 4) utilize psychiatric screening tools recommended for depression screening in primary care, and 5) recognize the importance of patient teaching through psychoeducation. Mental health content and use of the tool were taught by faculty who are dually certified FNP and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNP). This presentation will provide information about curriculum development for mental health content in the FNP program, the development of the BH guide, and the benefits of using dually prepared faculty in teaching this content.