LESSON REVIEW (5 minutes)

NUR 027 (Nursing Research 1-Lecture) BS

STUDENT ACTIVITY NURSING/SECOND YEAR
SHEET Sessions # 5

Materials:
LESSON TITLE: THE PICOT FORMAT Book, pen and notebook

Textbook:
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Upon completion of this lesson, the nursing student will be Barrientos-Tan, C. (2011). A Research Guide in Nursing
able to: Education: Building an Evidence-Based Practice. Pasay
City: Philippines, Visprint Inc.
1. Explain the PICOT format for formulating EBP question.
2. Employ PICOT format in EBP.
References:
Polit, Denise F. & Beck, Cheryl T. (2012). Nursing
research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing
research (9th ed.), Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health/
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

The instructor will open a box of rolled papers with your assigned numbers. The students whose numbers were picked
by the instructor will answer one of the following questions:
1. What is the importance of evidence-based practice in nursing?
2. What are the key steps in evidence-based practice?

MAIN LESSON (30 minutes)

The PICO Format

Melnyk and Finecout_Overhold (2004) advocate asking clinical questions in the PICOT format. PICOT stands for:

P – Patient Population: It is necessary to have a clear description of the patient population and setting to
retrieve the most relevant evidence;

I – Intervention of interest: This may include, but is not limited to any treatment, patient perception, exposure
ore diagnostic test. The more defined the intervention, the more focused the search for evidence will be;

C – Comparison Intervention: The standard of care is compared to a new treatment or procedure. The
comparison can be a true control, such as placebo;

O – Outcome: Specific identification of the outcome variable facilitates the search for evidence that has
investigated the same outcome;

T – Time Target: Specific time for the intervention to achieve the best outcome.

PICOT questions can be about intervention, therapy, prognosis, diagnosis, etiology or meaning. The following is a
guide for formulating PICOT questions.

PICOT Questions Template

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INTERVENTION
 In ____________________(P), how does ____________________ (I) compared to
____________________(C) affect _____________________(O) within ___________(T)?

THERAPY

In __________________(P), what is the effect of __________________(I) compared to _____________ (C)

on ________________(O) within _____________(T)?

PROGNOSIS/PREDICTION

In ______________ (P), how does ___________________ (I) compared to _____________(C) influence

__________________ (O) over _______________ (T)?

DIAGNOSIS OR DIAGNOSTIC TEST

In ___________________(P) are/is ____________________(I) comparedwith _______________________(C)

more accurate in diagnosing _________________(O)?

ETIOLOGY

Are____________________ (P), who have ____________________ (I) compared with those without
____________________(C) at ____________ risk for/of ____________________(O) over
________________(T)?

MEANING

How do _______________________ (P) with _______________________ (I) perceive

_______________________ (O) during ________________(T)?

(Source: https://www.aaacn.org/sites/default/files/documents/misc-docs/1e_PICOT_Questions_template.pdf)

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING (15 minutes)

Short Quiz. Think of yourself as a researcher who wants to undertake an evidence-based research. Read and analyze
the given data below and write a PICOT to answer the clinical question.

1. Handwashing is a universal precaution. No questions about it. But in the clinical area, in the absence of water, there
are other ways to keep health practitioners aseptic. If this is the clinical question, “Does handwashing among
healthcare workers reduce hospital acquired infection?”, answer the following:
P-roblem/population Healthcare workers in the hospital

I-ntervention of interest Handwashing

C-omparison Using alcohol or washing hands with water

O-utcome Hand washing with soap and water helps to

prevent spread of infections and avoid
contamination.

T-ime target Optional

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2. The year 2020 had caused the fear of Covid 19 pandemic. The public and the health workers are extra cautious in
protecting themselves. If this is the clinical question, “Does self-quarantine decrease cross infection of Covid 19
among healthcare workers in the Covid ward?”, answer the following:
 P-roblem/population Healthcare workers in COVID ward

I-ntervention of interest Self-quarantine

C-omparison Self-quarantine vs COVID 19 ward

quarantine

O-utcome Self-quarantine helps to reduce COVID-19

infection to spread among health providers
in the COVID ward

T-ime target Optional

RATIONALIZATION ACTIVITY

The instructor will now rationalize the answers to the students and will encourage them to ask questions and to discuss
among their classmates for (ten) 10 minutes.

1. Handwashing is a universal precaution. No questions about it. But in the clinical area, in the absence of water,
there are other ways to keep health practitioners aseptic. If this is the clinical question, “Does handwashing
among healthcare workers reduce hospital acquired infection?”, answer the following:
P-roblem/population

I-ntervention of interest

C-omparison

O-utcome

T-ime target

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3. The year 2020 had caused the fear of Covid 19. The healthworkers are extra cautious in protecting themselves. If
this is the clinical question, “Does self-quarantine decrease cross infection of Covid 19 among healthcare workers
in the Covid ward?”, answer the following:
P
roblem/population

I-ntervention of interest

C-omparison
 O-utcome

T-ime target

LESSON WRAP-UP (10 minutes)

You will now mark (encircle) the session you have finished today in the tracker below. This is simply a visual to help
you track how much work you have accomplished and how much work there is left to do.

You are done with the session! Let’s track your progress.

AL Strategy: Muddiest Point

The instructor summarizes the lesson discussed leaving enough time for you to respond. You will be asked to
bring out ¼ sheet of pad papers to write on your answer when the instructor asks the following question:

In today’s session in research, what was least clear to you?

The instructor collects the papers and answers the “unclear” part of the discussion before the class dismissed.

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