28th International Conference on Pediatric Nursing and Healthcare September 04-05, 2017 Edinburgh, Scotland

Attends University of South Florida for her DNP with a focus in Pediatric health. She has worked over five years as a Registered Nurse, majority of her career in Pediatric Acute Care. In 2015 she was awarded the HPSP scholarship and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the United States Air Force this past March. She continues to focus on this underserved population with her DNP Project focusing on military adolescent depression screening.

Problem Statement: When an adolescent is facing a mental illness or attempting suicide, it prevents our military members both stateside and deployed from completing their missions adequately. Adolescent patients who are presently seen at a Military Healthcare Facility for primary care are screened using the Patient Health Questionnaire- 2. The PHQ-2 is not required to be completed at all visits with the physician. In the absence of a routine comprehensive screening 50% of adolescent depression cases are being overlooked (Arroll et al., 2011). Purpose: The PHQ-2 presently promoted by military pediatric primary care providers is not identifying over half of adolescent military beneficiaries at risk and/or presently suffering from symptoms of depression. This study will explore the use of a standardized comprehensive depression screening tool (PHQ-9 Modified) among military adolescents for initial suggestive diagnosis. Methods: A voluntary anonymous online survey will be available for parents of military adolescent beneficiaries who are stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Evaluation of the survey results will reveal a comprehensive screening assessment tool’s ability to support initial diagnosis of military adolescents at risk for depression. This will be reflected through supported data of the comprehensive screening questions derived from the PHQ-9 Modified identifying more individual military adolescents scoring at risk for