Nurses train to champion postpartum depression screening

Training nurse champions is one of four strategies employed by Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in its postpartum depression screening, education and referral program, launched in 2017. The hospital provided a full day of training to roughly 20 nurse champions with an interest in mental health and instructed hundreds of additional nurses in how to conduct mental health screenings. The decision to screen mothers after they gave birth rather than on admission was also key to the program’s success. Screenings increased from 10% to 99%, and positive rates rose from negligible to 3% in the first year, with five times more patients referred to social work. (HealthLeaders Media article, 5/18/22)