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.

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

PICO (T) Nursing Question

PICO (T) is a tool commonly used in the professional nursing practice to formulate clinical questions that facilitates evidence-based practice and imperative technique when evaluating clinical literature and reviews. It is a mnemonic that outlines unique elements that make an excellent clinical question, namely, Patient/Problem, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (NLM, 2020). The developed PICO (T) question is, “For improved hospital hygiene and sanitation, does the use of handwashing detergents reduce and control future risks of hospital-acquired infections compared with the systematic improvement methods?” The original searches included clinical queries, systematic reviews, and basic sanitation in hospitals. Once searched, the articles were many unfiltered, especially in the MEDLINE database that brought 57 results. Once I added search terms such as “handwashing detergents or systematic improvement methods in the sanitation and hygiene of nurses,” there were filtered and limited articles. Mainly in the NLM nursing journal database that narrowed the results to only seven results while in the Cochrane databases, they were 16 results against 23 results on clinical queries (Cochrane, 2020).

Increasing rigor and effective database search for the question involve using systematic review filters and combining the search words with the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) as is present in the NLM nursing journal database (Gah Juan Ho, 2016). Moreover, the search time allocated will be adequate, ranging from 30 to 60 minutes to ensure the articles and searches result in evidence-based content. In addition, the search databases will increase to increase higher chances of factual articles. These databases will include NLM, Cochrane, PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and TRIP. These databases and nursing journals will provide comprehensive and conclusive evidence-based answers to the developed PICO (T) question above.

References

Cochrane. (2020). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.cochranelibrary.com/search

Gah Juan Ho, 1. S. (2016). Development of a Search Strategy for an Evidence Based Retrieval Service. PLoS One, Vol 11(12).

NLM. (2020). What is a PICOT Question? Retrieved from https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/search