CRAFT A PICOT QUESTION & A SEARCH STRATEGY

READ ALL COMMENTS AND GRADING SCALE

Write a 1-2 page paper in which you write a PICOT question and develop a search strategy based on the question.

Introduction

You will formulate and write a clinical, administrative practice, public health policy, or program question that relates to your professional interests, and track and develop a search strategy based on that question. This assessment sets the stage for much of the writing you will complete in the course. Complete this assessment before beginning Assessment 4.

Demonstration of Proficiency

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

· Competency 1: Address assessment purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.

. Compose well-developed paragraphs that address the assessment purpose.

. Produce text with minimal grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanical errors.

· Competency 3: Create a literature review that supports a possible intervention or process change.

. Implement a search strategy for literature based on your PICOT question.

Preparation

In your previous coursework, you crafted a PICOT question based upon a proposed capstone topic. For some learners, your PICOT question may have changed. For this assessment, use the original or revised question, as appropriate.

Use the
PICOT Question and Search Strategy Template [DOCX]
to develop a search strategy.

Instructions

Formulate and write a clinical, administrative practice, public health policy, or program question that relates to your professional interests. Use this format for developing a PICOT question:

· In ____________(P), how does __________(I) compared to desired state __________(C) affect the outcome __________(O) within __________(T).

· Here is an example of a PICOT question: For medical units experiencing a high number of “failure to rescue” (P), will the development of a rapid response team (RRT) (I) compared to the current emergency alert system (code blue) (C) decrease the number of “failure to rescue” and ICU admissions (O) and unplanned admissions to the ICU (O) over a 12-week period (T)?

Describe your search strategy and the results of your search in relation to the PICOT question. Think about these questions as you describe your search: 

· Which electronic databases did you use?

· What were the key search terms used?

· What type of literature was excluded?

· How many articles or sources did your search yield?

· How did you decide which sources to retain?

This assessment will be graded according to the following scoring guide criteria.

· Implement a search for literature to support your argument.

· Design a search strategy to support a problem question.

· Compose well-developed paragraphs that address the assessment purpose.

Additional Requirements

· Writing: Produce text with minimal grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanical errors.

· Page Length: 2–3 pages.

PICOT Question and Search Strategy Template

Use with this library guide:

Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing & Health Sciences

.

1. Define your question using PICOT (review the “

Create PICOT Questions

” page as needed):

Population: ___________________________________________________________________

Intervention: ___________________________________________________________________

Comparison: ___________________________________________________________________

Outcome: ___________________________________________________________________

Time (optional): ___________________________________________________________________

2. Write out your question: _______________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

3. Write down the most important words from your question in the gray boxes (the top row). For each top term, add synonyms or related terms in the boxes below it. All these are your search terms.

4. Review the “Best Bets” in the

Nursing Databases list

. Check the databases you will search:

__ CINAHL Complete (*Recommended) __ Nursing & Allied Health __ Public Health Database

__ Health & Medical Collection __ OVID Nursing Full Text Plus __ PubMed Central

5. Write in your first search below. Follow the instructions on the “

Find EBP Articles

” page.

AND

OR

OR

AND

· Scholarly/peer reviewed Limit publication date:
6. Type of studies you want to include in your search:

__ Systematic Review or Meta-Analysis
__ Clinical Practice Guidelines

__ Individual Research Studies
__ Critically Appraised Research Studies

7. What information did you find to help answer your question?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This form is adapted from: Syrene A. Miller, PICO Worksheet and Search Strategy, National Center for Dental Hygiene Research.

Craft a PICOT Question and a Search Strategy Scoring Guide

Criteria

Non-performance

Basic

Proficient

Distinguished

Implement a search strategy for literature based on your PICOT question.

Does not define a search strategy based on your PICOT question.

Defines a search strategy, but does not implement it in a manner that yields the best literature, or defines it incorrectly based on your PICOT question.

Implements a search for literature based on your PICOT question.

Implements a search strategy for literature based on your PICOT question; explains criteria for identifying best evidence; identifies appropriate databases as sources of evidence; includes search terms for the search strategy.

Compose well-developed paragraphs that address the assignment purpose.

Does not compose paragraphs that address the assignment purpose.

Composes paragraphs, but omits a key component, such as thesis, evidence/analysis, or conclusion/transition.

Composes well-developed paragraphs that address the assignment purpose.

Composes well-developed paragraphs that address the assignment purpose; evidence/analysis cites specific sources.

Produce text with minimal grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanical errors.

Produces text where meaning is unclear due to errors in grammar, usage, word choice, spelling, or mechanics.

Produces text where meaning is interrupted due to errors in grammar, usage, word choice, spelling, or mechanics.

Produces text with minimal grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanical errors.

Produces text written with a professional level of competence in grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanical errors.