Examination of the depression screening patterns of nurse practitioners, medical doctors, and physician assistants in primary care

Depression continues to be a major global issue with devastating and potentially fatal implications. Inherent to the role of the nurse practitioner are depression recognition, diagnosis, and screening behaviors. Since psychology theorist Bandura considers self-efficacy vital for the ability to master behaviors, it is imperative nurse practitioners possess self-efficacy when managing depression in the adult patient.;The purpose of this study was to compare the practice patterns of nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and medical doctors (MDs) related to their depression recognition, diagnosing, training, screening, and self-efficacy. The sample consisted of 65 NPs, 16 PAs, and 14 MDs practicing in the state of Nevada. When primary care providers (PCP) were asked to identify perceived barriers to recognizing depression MDs indicated "lack of time" (U=119.5, p=0.018) and "culture" (U=69.00, p=0.011) significantly more than NPs. No significant differences were found between the three PCP types with regards to diagnosis barriers, informal/formal training, screening practices, and self-efficacy with managing depression.