Graduation Semester and Year
Summer 2026
Language
English
Document Type
DNP Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Department
Nursing
First Advisor
Dr. Cynthia Diamond
Second Advisor
Dr. Yungfei Kao
Abstract
Problem: Law enforcement officers are exposed to repeated trauma on the job that may negatively affect their mental health. Officers may avoid seeking mental health treatment due to police culture, stigma, and other barriers which may increase risks for suicide, absenteeism, and maladaptive coping.
Objectives: Develop an evidenced-based guideline to address barriers law enforcement officers face in seeking mental health treatment.
Methods: The National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC) Domain Framework was used to guide a literature review to identify best practices suitable for a guideline. Articles were graded for strength based on the John Hopkins Nursing Evidence Based Practice (JHNEBP) model. Eleven recommendations were developed. To validate recommendations, ten male and female law enforcement stakeholder officers were recruited from a medium sized central Texas police department and asked to rate their level of support for each recommendation based on a four-point Likert scale to quantify strength of each recommendation. Statistical analysis was conducted with Friedman’s 2-way ANOVA to quantify strength of recommendations.
Results: The differences in stakeholders’ agreement amongst recommendations ratings were significant with a p value of 0.015 and χ2 = 22.007. Recommendations three (mean rating 2.8) and five (mean rating 2.7) had weaker support and were excluded from the final guideline.
Conclusion: Nine recommendations were included in the final clinical practice guideline to assist police departments to overcome the barriers officers experience when seeking mental health treatment. This guideline may be beneficial to law enforcement departments wanting to increase law enforcement officers’ access to mental health.
Keywords: Law enforcement, officers, mental health, barriers, address, guidelines.
Keywords
Keywords: Law enforcement, officers, mental health, barriers, address, guidelines.
Disciplines
Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Estrella, Jacqueline, "A Guideline to Address Barriers to Mental Health Treatment Experienced by Law Enforcement Officers" (2026). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects. 14.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/nursing_dnpprojects2/14