Janet H. Davis
Purdue University Northwest College of Nursing, IN 46323 USA
Title: PICO: An Alternative to Tradition
Biography
Biography: Janet H. Davis
Abstract
Today, advanced practice nurses must continually ask themselves: “To what extent is the care and health education that I provide evidence-based?” Advanced practice nurses are eager to identify researchable questions within their clinical settings. An underlying challenge for the advanced practice nurse is distinguishing between research utilization and evidence-based practice for providing the best clinical care. To meet this challenge, analytical skills used in the critical evaluation of research are needed. Graduate research courses traditionally begin with quantitative and qualitative research methods and end with a critical analysis of research evidence for nursing practice. An alternative aproach is to use a PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) model in research course design. This approach immediatley engages the clinician in the identification of researchable questions while developing a critical appraisal skill set for evidence-based practice. The PICO model offers an applied context for synthesizing advanced nursing knowledge with the best available evidence to make decisions for practice.