Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
9-29-2026
First Advisor
Sandy King
Second Advisor
Alisha McAfee
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects about 24 million people globally and needs regular antipsychotic drug management to prevent relapse. Although long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics are associated with better adherence to and fewer relapses than oral antipsychotics, their use is underutilized in outpatient psychiatric care. This quality improvement project aimed to increase psychiatric providers' confidence in the prescribing of LAIs by implementing a structured 12-week education program in an outpatient psychiatric clinic in Texas. The implementation was guided by the Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice and the change process informed by Lewin's Change Model. Four psychiatric providers completed the modified Grundy Confidence Scale pre- and post-intervention. The project evaluated changes in provider confidence rather than changes in LAI prescribing rates. Mean confidence scores increased significantly from 14.00 (SD = 1.41) at pretest to 19.75 (SD = 1.71) at posttest, a mean increase of 5.75 points (SD = 0.96). A paired-samples t-test confirmed statistical significance, t(3) = 12.01, p = .001, 95% CI [4.23, 7.27], with a very large effect size (dz = 6.01). Limitations included a small sample size, reliance on providers' self-reported confidence and a relatively brief observation period of 12 weeks. The results reveal that a well-designed, evidence-based education program can significantly increase provider confidence in the use of LAIs. This project contributes to nursing practice by providing evidence of the usefulness of nurse-led quality improvement projects to translate evidence into practice. Incorporating LAI education into provider onboarding and ongoing professional development is recommended for sustainability.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Bihnyuy, Emile, "Quality Improvement Project: Improving Psychiatric Provider Confidence in Prescribing Long-Acting Injectable (LAI) Antipsychotics Through a Structured Education Program" (2026). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 380.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/380
