PICOT is an acronym used to help develop clinical research questions and guide you in your search for evidence:
P = Patient population
I = Intervention or issue of interest
C = Comparison of interventions or comparison of interests
O = Outcome
T = Time frame
For example, you may wish to research if the timing of IV tubing changes affects the development of CLABSI, using this PICOT model:
In _____(P), what is the effect of _____(I) on ____(O) compared with _____(C) within ______ (T)?
In patients on the acute care medical surgical floor (P), what is the effect of changing continuous IV tubings every 96 hours (I) on the incidence of CLABSI (O) versus every changing continuous IV tubings every 48 hours (C) during a 6-month tracking period (T)?
Assignment Directions
Begin by selecting a topic in nursing or medicine that is of interest to you. Next, use PICOT to format possible research questions about that topic. Provide three possible PICOT research questions related to the chosen topic (each question will have a different direction on the same topic).
Include the following:
Provide a brief description of the topic and background information.
Explain the significance of the topic to nursing practice.
Provide three clearly stated PICOT questions.
Your paper should:
Include a Title page and a Reference page.
Be 2–3 pages (not including the title page and reference list).
Use current APA Style to format your paper and to cite your sources.