Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
9-29-2026
First Advisor
Lisa Drake
Second Advisor
Diane Hare
Abstract
In depressed adults, alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a clinically meaningful comorbidity whose existence may go unnoticed unless a systematically introduced practice of conducting standardized alcohol-use screening is implemented. The current quality improvement (QI) project evaluated the use of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDI-C) in order to improve the capacity of healthcare providers to diagnose co-occurring AUD and integrate standardized screening into healthcare. Guided by the Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) framework and Kotter’s Change Model, the project aimed to improve provider familiarity, confidence, self-efficacy, screening, documentation, and referral practices. A pretest–posttest design was implemented with 13 licensed healthcare providers in an outpatient behavioral health setting. Provider familiarity, confidence, and self-efficacy were measured using researcher-developed pre- and post-intervention surveys employing 5-point Likert-type items across six matched provider-outcome domains, supplemented by EHR chart audits to assess screening completion, documentation, and referral practices. An evidence-based educational intervention was delivered, followed by integration of AUDIT-C into the clinical workflow. The overall provider familiarity, confidence, and self-efficacy composite report a statistically significant positive mean change of 1.40 points, t(12) = 15.96, p = 0.001. The mean changes in all six providers' outcome domains were positive, with familiarity with the scoring in the AUDIT-C improving by 1.31 points, awareness of the presence of co-occurring AUD improving by 1.38 points, confidence in screening improving by 1.38 points, comfort discussing alcohol use improving by 1.31 points, referral confidence improving by 1.54 points, and the documentation practice improving by 1.46 points. As the study was constrained by a small sample and 8-week period of implementation, it was found to have improved provider-reported familiarity, confidence, self-efficacy, and clinical practices after the implementation of standardized AUDIT-C screening.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Shittu, Babatunde Thanni, "Quality Improvement Project: Assessing Healthcare Providers’ Confidence, Familiarity, and Implementation of the AUDIT-C Screening Tool for Alcohol Use Disorder in Adults with Depression in Primary Care" (2026). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 409.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/409
