Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to design a means to educate the registered nurse or nurse practitioner on epidemiology, signs and symptoms, risk factors, screening tools, management, and complications that can occur with delayed diagnosis of postpartum depression. A decision tree was also developed to help the registered nurse or nurse practitioner understand the best clinical practice guidelines regarding the best screening tool to use, when the tool should be used, and management of patients identified with postpartum depression.
Results: Best practice guidelines were developed from the literature review.