NURS 6052:Module 3: Advanced Clinical Inquiry and PICO(T) Questions Weeks 4-5
NURS 6052:Module 3: Advanced Clinical Inquiry and PICO(T) Questions Weeks 4-5
| Due By | Assignment |
|---|---|
| Week 4, Days 1-2 | Read the Learning Resources. Compose your initial Discussion post. |
| Week 4, Day 3 | Post your initial Discussion post. Begin to compose your Assignment. |
| Week 4, Days 4-5 | Review peer Discussion posts. Compose your peer Discussion responses. Continue to compose your Assignment. |
| Week 4, Day 6 | Post two peer Discussion responses. Continue to compose your Assignment. |
| Week 4, Day 7 | Wrap up Discussion. |
| Week 5, Days 1-6 | Continue to compose your Assignment. |
| Week 5, Day 7 | Deadline to submit your Assignment. |
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Create an answerable research question using the PICO(T) question format
- Apply effective search strategies to identify relevant peer-reviewed and systematic reviewed research
- Analyze strategies to increase rigor and effectiveness of database searches for PICO(T) questions
- Analyze levels of evidence in peer-reviewed research
Learning Resources
Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
Required Readings
Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2018). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
- Chapter 2, “Asking Compelling Clinical Questions” (pp. 33–54)
- Chapter 3, “Finding Relevant Evidence to Answer Clinical Questions” (pp. 55–92)
Davies, K. S. (2011). Formulating the evidence based practice question: A review of the frameworks for LIS professionals. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 6(2), 75–80. https://doi.org/10.18438/B8WS5N. Retrieved from https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/article/viewFile/9741/8144
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
Library of Congress. (n.d.). Search/browse help – Boolean operators and nesting. Retrieved September 19, 2018, from https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/ui/en_US/htdocs/help/searchBoolean.html
Stillwell, S. B., Fineout-Overholt, E., Melnyk, B. M., & Williamson, K. M. (2010a). Evidence-based practice, step by step: Asking the clinical question: A key step in evidence-based practice. American Journal of Nursing, 110(3), 58–61. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000368959.11129.79. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Fulltext/2010/03000/Evidence_Based_Practice,_Step_by_Step__Asking_the.28.aspx
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
Melnyk, B. M., Fineout-Overholt, E., Stillwell, S. B., & Williamson, K. M. (2009). Evidence-based practice: Step by step: Igniting a spirit of inquiry. American Journal of Nursing, 109(11), 49–52. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000363354.53883.58. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/fulltext/2009/11000/Evidence_Based_Practice__Step_by_Step__Igniting_a.28.aspx
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
Stillwell, S. B., Fineout-Overholt, E., Melnyk, B. M., & Williamson, K. M. (2010b). Evidence-based practice, step by step: Searching for the evidence. American Journal of Nursing, 110(5), 41–47. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000372071.24134.7e. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Fulltext/2010/05000/Evidence_Based_Practice,_Step_by_Step__Searching.24.aspx
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases. NURS 6052:Module 3: Advanced Clinical Inquiry and PICO(T) Questions Weeks 4-5
Walden University Library. (n.d.-a). Databases A-Z: Find the best library databases for your research. Retrieved September 19, 2018, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/az.php
Walden University Library. (n.d.-b). Keyword searching: Finding articles on your topic: Boolean terms. Retrieved September 19, 2018, from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/keyword/boolean
Walden University Library. (n.d.-c). Keyword searching: Finding articles on your topic: Introduction to keyword searching. Retrieved September 19, 2018, from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/keyword/searching-basics
Required Media
Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Searching the Evidence [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Discussion: Searching Databases
When you decide to purchase a new car, you first decide what is important to you. If mileage and dependability are the important factors, you will search for data focused more on these factors and less on color options and sound systems.
The same holds true when searching for research evidence to guide your clinical inquiry and professional decisions. Developing a formula for an answerable, researchable question that addresses your need will make the search process much more effective. One such formula is the PICO(T) format.
In this Discussion, you will transform a clinical inquiry into a searchable question in PICO(T) format, so you can search the electronic databases more effectively and efficiently. You will share this PICO(T) question and examine strategies you might use to increase the rigor and effectiveness of a database search on your PICO(T) question.
To Prepare:
- Review the materials offering guidance on using databases, performing keyword searches, and developing PICO(T) questions provided in the Resources.
- Review the Resources for guidance and develop a PICO(T) question of interest to you for further study.
By Day 3 of Week 4
Post your PICO(T) question, the search terms used, and the names of at least two databases used for your PICO(T) question. Then, describe your search results in terms of the number of articles returned on original research and how this changed as you added search terms using your Boolean operators. Finally, explain strategies you might make to increase the rigor and effectiveness of a database search on your PICO(T) question. Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 6 of Week 4
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days and provide further suggestions on how their database search might be improved. NURS 6052:Module 3: Advanced Clinical Inquiry and PICO(T) Questions Weeks 4-5
Explain strategies that can be used to increase the rigor and effectiveness of a database search on PICO(T) questions
Introduction
A PICO(T) search is a great way to find relevant articles. However, it can be hard to find the right documents because there are too many results and they don’t provide enough information about what you’re looking for. To increase your chances of finding exactly what you need, here are some strategies you should use when conducting a database search on PICO(T) questions:
Search terms with a higher specificity tend to retrieve more useful results
Searching for specific terms is a good strategy to improve the results of your database search. When using this strategy, you want to use only the most specific terms first and then work down from there. It’s also important not to repeat any given term in a PICO(T) question so that it doesn’t get included twice or more than once in your results set.
You should also avoid using synonyms or related terms as part of your query because these can cause confusion for users who are trying to find relevant information about your topic area (e.g., “computer science” vs “computer science education”).
A high number of search results is not necessarily a sign of successful search, it could mean that the articles included in the search are not very relevant for your research
The number of search results returned is not the only factor that determines the quality of a database search. The relevance of articles found is also important, as it provides an indication about how well you can use these results in your research.
In order for you to determine whether or not an article is relevant for your research, it is important that you read its abstract carefully and consider whether or not this article may be helpful for your topic. You should also check if there are any other sources that mention this specific article in order to narrow down your choices even further (e.g., libraries).
Use synonyms and related terms to refine your search
When you search, the more synonyms and related terms you include in your query, the more closely matches it will be.
Synonyms are words that have the same or similar meaning, but not necessarily an exact match: for example, “law” and “lawyer” are both synonyms of “legal”. Related terms are words that describe your topic from different perspectives: for example, if you’re looking for information on how to become a lawyer in New York City (NYC), then NYC should be listed under its own category while “lawyer” should also be listed under legal professions.
Do not use AND/OR at the beginning of your search string
A good rule of thumb for database searches is to use a search string that does not contain AND/OR at the beginning or end. This will help avoid overfitting and narrow down your results, rather than allow them to expand into more data.
If you want to find all the articles containing “pico” within their title, then use this query:
`”pico” OR “pico-project”`
Do not use AND/OR between every single word in your PICO(T) elements
We recommend that you do not use AND/OR between every single word in your PICO(T) elements.
The reason for this is that it can lead to false positives and negatives, which means that the search will return results that are irrelevant or miss relevant ones. For example, if you have “AND” before every word in your PICO(T), then there is no way for Google to know whether or not those words should be included in its database search results. A better way to phrase this would be: “You should NOT use AND/OR between every single word in your PICO(T).”
AND restricts the results found to those documents containing both words being searched for, OR retrieves either one or another term, or both
Using the AND strategy, you can restrict the results found to those documents containing both words being searched for.
AND is used to restrict the results found to those documents containing both words being searched for.
OR retrieves either one or another term.
Conclusion
You can use the strategies above to improve your database search on PICO(T) questions and increase the rigor and effectiveness of your research.
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