Formulating a PICO Question

Purpose:

It is critical, as a leader, to be able to formulate strategies to utilize nursing research in clinical practice. The PICO format is one of the first steps in aiding a leader’s discovery of current evidence/ best practices to improve patient outcomes and promote healthy work environments.



Instructions:

Identify a practice issue/problem within your area of nursing practice or interest. It is critical that you choose something that you will be able to continue working on and that will lead to your practicum project. Choose one only. Examples are topics such as:

· Falls in the Hospital

· Pressure Sores

· Hospital Acquired Infections

Describe the background of the practice issue and construct a well formulated clinical question and then identify the specific elements of the question using the PICO model. Your assignment is a narrative assignment of 1-2 pages plus the title page and reference page. Use these first level headings for your paper:

A. Background of Problem (a paragraph)

B. Importance to Nursing (a paragraph)

C. Improvement of Patient Outcomes (a paragraph)

D. Clinical Question (make sure that it is well worded)

E. PICO Question (write a Sentence a sentence to identify the PICO elements)



Submission Requirements:

· The paper is to be clear and concise and students will lose points for improper grammar, punctuation and misspelling.

· The paper should be formatted per current APA and 1-2 pages in length, excluding the title, abstract and references page. Incorporate a minimum of 5 current (published within last five years) scholarly journal articles or primary legal sources (statutes, court opinions) within your work.

· Your assignment will be reviewed for plagiarism with Turnitin.