Asking questions is at the heart of evidence-based practice.
If nurses never asked questions about how to improve patient care based on scientific research evidence, then no beneficial changes or advancements in nursing practice would occur. Cultivating a spirit of inquiry is essential for evidence-based practice implementation.
The PICOT model is used widely in evidence-based practice to construct a focused, well-built, and searchable clinical question.
It consists of the following components:
P (Patient/Population/Problem)
I (Intervention)
C (Comparison – “usual care” or “standard care”)
O (Outcome/s)
T (Timeframe)
The PICOT template for constructing clinical questions is as follows:
In ________ (P), what is the effect of ________ (I) compared with ________ (C) on ________ (O) within ________ (T)?
PICOT Question Example:
In community-dwelling older adults (P), what is the effect of social support (I) compared with usual care (C) on loneliness and isolation (O) within the lifespan (T)?
Building a Database Search Strategy for the PICOT Question: