Connecting PICO to Midrange Theories

[guest896979]

I am currently currently working on a PICOT question:In the critically ill patient, how does promoting mobility within 72 hours of admission compared with prolonged bedrest affect patient hospital length of stay over a three month period?

I am also hoping to connect my PICOT question with a nursing midrange theory that would aid in guiding a study, or even resolution to this problem. Is anyone who is more knowledgeable on these types of theories have any ideas?

[llg, PhD, RN]

First, identify a theory that relates well to your basic question. Then, re-write you question to include the key concepts of the theory. You'll also need to be a lot more specific in your phrasing the question. What type of critically ill patient will you include/exclude? Stroke patients with paralysys? Heart attack patients? Trauma patients? Kidney failure patients? etc.

You might choose to omit the theory from the question itself -- and simply use the theory as the foundation for the whole project. You can't make that decision until you identify a theory that interests you and relates well to your project. Then you can see weather it belongs in your question or not.

You'll need to do a thorough literature search to identify concepts/theories that will fit well with your interests. If you don't know how to do that, you are in way over your head and would benefit from some tutoring / advising from your professor.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Moved to nursing student assistance