PICOT Question

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I need some assistance in refining my PICOT questions r/t early mobility in the intensive care setting.

In the critically-ill patient (P), how does promoting early mobility within 72 hours of admission (I), compared with prolonged bed rest © affect patient hospital length of stay (O) over a three month period (T)?

I also added the element of time to my original PICO question; however, does this mean I should have a different outcome? I was a bit confused since the O and T now both address certain time factors. If so, what could be a different outcome that remains measurable?

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Specializes in ICU.

Never heard of this. What is PICOT?

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It is a question format that relates to nursing EBP.

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I'm kind of confused about your T. What is over a three month period? Are you looking at data from a single source (hospital, ICU)? If you'll be completing a lit review of existing research, I think you'll need to drop that restriction.

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That is what I thought as well. I added the element of time per my professor recommendation since we will eventually be performing our own research upon our question. But, I almost feel as if it makes more sense to just drop the T element as a whole. However, if she wants me to keep the T element, in what ways could I change my outcome so that they both aren't time related.

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Wow, that's really cool that you'll be able to design and perform your own clinical research, not just a lit review. Your O will completely depend on what you're interested in. Length of stay is only measured by time. Otherwise, you may be interested in other outcomes, such as development of PE or admission to rehab after DC or pneumonia. Anyway, I don't think there's any way to phrase LOS without a time element.

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Just to clarify, by saying over a three month period, it sounds like you will only look at studies that collected data over a three month period, is that what you mean?

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Never heard of this. What is PICOT?

PICOT stands for:

  • Population/ Patient Problem: Who is your patient? (Disease or Health status, age, race, sex)
  • Intervention: What do you plan to do for the patient? (Specific tests, therapies, medications)
  • Comparison: What is the alternative to your plan? (ie. No treatment, different type of treatment, etc.)
  • Outcome: What outcome do you seek? (Less symptoms, no symptoms, full health, etc.)
  • Time: What is the time frame? (This element is not always included.)

PICOT - Nursing - Research Guides at Lansing Community College Library

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the General Nursing Student forum

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Specializes in ICU.
PICOT stands for:

  • Population/ Patient Problem: Who is your patient? (Disease or Health status, age, race, sex)
  • Intervention: What do you plan to do for the patient? (Specific tests, therapies, medications)
  • Comparison: What is the alternative to your plan? (ie. No treatment, different type of treatment, etc.)
  • Outcome: What outcome do you seek? (Less symptoms, no symptoms, full health, etc.)
  • Time: What is the time frame? (This element is not always included.)

PICOT - Nursing - Research Guides at Lansing Community College Library

Thank you. I have never heard of it.

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