The first step of the EBP process is to develop a question from the nursing practice problem of interest.

Select a practice problem of interest to use as the focus of your research.

Start with the patient and identify the clinical problems or issues that arise from clinical care.

Following the PICOT format, write a PICOT statement in your selected practice problem area of interest, which is applicable to your proposed capstone project.

The PICOT statement will provide a framework for your capstone project (the project students must complete during their final course in the RN-BSN program of study).

Conduct a literature search to locate research articles focused on your selected practice problem of interest. This literature search should include both quantitative and qualitative peer-reviewed research articles to support your practice problem.

Select six peer-reviewed research articles which will be utilized through the next 5 weeks as reference sources. Be sure that some of the articles use qualitative research and that some use quantitative research. Create a reference list in which the six articles are listed. Beneath each reference include the article’s abstract. The completed assignment should have a title page and a reference list with abstracts.

Suggestions for locating qualitative and quantitative research articles from credible sources:

1. Use a library database such as CINAHL Complete for your search.
2. Using the advanced search page check the box beside “Research Article” in the “Limit Your Results” section.
3. When setting up the search you can type your topic in the top box, then add quantitative or qualitative as a search term in one of the lower boxes. Research articles often are described as qualitative or quantitative.

To narrow/broaden your search, remove the words qualitative and quantitative and include words that narrow or broaden your main topic. For example: Diabetes and pediatric and dialysis. To determine what research design was used, review the abstract and the methods section of the article. The author will provide a description of data collection using qualitative or quantitative methods.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

Instructor announcement and examples just to help how to complete this assignment please see below also.

This week’s assignment will help you learn to search for research articles. You should start looking at nursing research journals and find interesting research studies that pertain to your interests. You will be using these studies for the next few assignments. You will also use them to help form your PICO question.  You can use most of the research in this class towards your capstone project. While reading articles please focus on the following concepts: Evaluate the importance of nursing research in improving patient outcomes; recognize the unique language of nursing research and examine the steps in the research process. For your PICO question remember that it must be a nursing practice problem.  It should have a new intervention, an old intervention and a measurable outcome.

For your first assignment if you do not understand the difference between a research article and a journal article please send me the article and I can help you. Please do not send the link but send the entire article. Also your research cannot be a literature review or a mixed method study.  It must be primary research. You can learn this information by reading the article. It will say that they reviewed the literature or used mixed methods. If you are confused about the PICO let me know and I can help. I will also be posting extra material in the Add On section.

template for asking PICOT Question example.

Template for Asking PICOT Questions

Short Definitions of Different Types of Questions:

Intervention: Questions addressing the treatment of an illness or disability.

Etiology: Questions addressing the causes or origins of disease (i.e., factors that produce or predispose toward a certain disease or disorder).

Diagnosis: Questions addressing the act or process of identifying or determining the nature and cause of a disease or injury through Assessment.

Prognosis/Prediction: Questions addressing the prediction of the course of a disease.

Meaning: Questions addressing how one experiences a phenomenon.

Sample Questions:

Intervention: In African-American female adolescents with hepatitis B (P), how does acetaminophen (I) compared to ibuprofen (C) affect liver function (O)?

Etiology: The question could read: Are 30- to 50-year-old women (P) who have high blood pressure (I) compared with those without high blood pressure (C) at increased risk for an acute myocardial infarction (O) during the first year after hysterectomy (T)?

Diagnosis: In middle-aged males with suspected myocardial infarction (P), are serial 12-lead ECGs (I) compared to one initial 12-lead ECG (C) more accurate in diagnosing an acute myocardial infarction (O)?

Prognosis/Prediction: 1) For patients 65 years and older (P), how does the use of an influenza vaccine (I) compared to not received the vaccine (C) influence the risk of developing pneumonia (O) during flu season (T)?

2) In patients who have experienced an acute myocardial infarction (P), how does being a smoker (I) compared to a non-smoker (C) influence death and infarction rates (O) during the first 5 years after the myocardial infarction (T)?

Meaning: How do 20-something males (P) with a diagnosis of below the waist paralysis (I) perceive their interactions with their romantic significant others (O) during the first year after their diagnosis (T)?