Getting Started with a PICOT Question

All assignments in this course build upon each other. Assignment 1 builds on the PICOT question submitted by the student and approved by the instructor in Week 1 of the discussion board. The PICOT format for this course is an intervention question. Approved PICOT question: In hospital patient care (P), how does standardized electronic health records in nursing documentation (I), compared with unstructured nursing documentation (C), affect nursing and patient outcomes (O), within a 6 month timeframe (T).

Step one (1) of the evidence-base practice (EBP) process is to formulate a burning PICOT question. Step two searches for the best scientific evidence (external evidence) by considering the elements of the PICOT question.

Students will develop a scholarly paper utilizing the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th edition format and include the following criteria.

Assignment Criteria:
1. Describe the clinical or administrative problem related to the PICOT question formulated and approved in Week 1.
Formulate the PICOT question in the intervention format
Discuss why the problem is important to nursing practice
Discuss the chosen intervention
Elaborate on how the intervention may impact the stated outcome
2. Discuss two (2) barriers that a masters prepared nurse might encounter before implementing the intervention.
3. Explore two (2) possible actions that can be used for handling those barriers.
4. Identify two (2) explicit inclusion criteria and two (2) inclusion criteria to be used in the analysis of the evidence
5. Identify the databases (e.g., CINAHL, Medline) and key terms used in initiating the search.
6. The scholarly paper should be in narrative format, four (4) to five (5) pages excluding the title and reference pages.
7. Include an introductory paragraph, purpose statement, and a conclusion.
8. Include level 1 and 2 headings to organize the paper.
9. Write the paper in third person, not first person (meaning do not use we or I) and in a scholarly manner. To clarify: I, we, you, me, our may not be used. In addition, describing yourself as the researcher or the author should not be used.
10. Include a minimum of three (3) references from professional peer-reviewed nursing journals to support the paper. References should be from scholarly peer-reviewed journals (review in Ulrich Periodical Directory) and be less than five (5) years old.
11. APA format is required (attention to spelling/grammar, a title page, a reference page, and in-text citations).