NURS FPX 4030 Assessment 3 Picot Questions and an Evidence Based Approach NURS-FPX 4030 Making Evidence-Based Decisions

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PICO (T) Questions and an Evidence-Based Approach

The PICO(T) approach, a mnemonic for patient/population, intervention, comparison, outcome, and time, is a structured method for formulating clinical research questions. This approach is beneficial for researchers and healthcare professionals to integrate credible and valuable information into evidence-based practice and clinical decision-making. This paper analyzes a PICO(T) question related to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), enhancing the precision and accuracy of research inquiries and contributing to more effective evidence synthesis and application in healthcare settings.

Practice Issue to be Explored and PICO(T) Question

Chronic kidney disease is a healthcare issue that poses significant challenges for the patients suffering from the disease. It is an ongoing loss of renal function, evidenced by decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR), increased proteinuria, reduced urinary frequency, and several mechanical abnormalities within the human kidneys (Chen et al., 2019). Several poor consequences of the disease include complete loss of kidney function, requiring renal replacement therapy and hemodialysis, and, in severe cases, kidney transplantations.

Complicated stages of CKD may result in end-stage renal disease (ESRD), eventually leading to death (Tonelli & Dickinson, 2020). Besides, CKD impacts an individual’s quality of life by influencing physical, emotional, and psychological well-being, alongside affecting daily living. Therefore, there is a substantial need to integrate evidence-based research to manage the disease and prevent complications effectively. Hence, we developed a PICO(T) question to research the role of a tailored educational program in improving patient outcomes and enhancing the quality of care. The research question is as follows: 

In patients diagnosed with CKD (P), how does a tailored educational program (I), as compared to routine clinical education (C), result in patients’ adherence to treatment and lifestyle modifications (O) in six months (T)?

The exploration of the practice issue and the importance of personalized education stands to benefit significantly from a PICO(T) approach. This structured approach facilitates a comprehensive understanding of CKD-related complications, ensuring that the research inquiry is specific and aligns with evidence-based principles to advocate for the worth of tailored education in minimizing these complications. It aids in reorganizing information and critically evaluating the evidence, contributing to informed decision-making and improved patient health outcomes in CKD management.

Identification of Sources of Evidence

Several sources of evidence are readily available online to provide information regarding our PICO(T) question. However, finding credible and valuable resources based on the CRAAP criteria is essential. These criteria are essential for researchers to extract relevant and authentic information from a widespread pool of knowledge and information. The CRAAP test is a mnemonic for currency (up-to-date information), relevance (aligns with the topic of research), authority (authors are field-specific and the journal is credible), accuracy (other reliable resources adequately support research information), and purpose (the purpose of the study is consistent to the purpose of the research inquiry and is clearly described) (Esparrago-Kalidas, 2021).

Various databases, such as Google Scholar, PubMed Central, and ScienceDirect, provide credible and useful resources. However, for researching our PICO(T) question, Google Scholar is the most useful and relevant resource. This database entails features to narrow down the information using filters. Using the “sort by date,” filter enabled us to find current and updated resources relevant to our PICO(T) question using “sort by relevance feature.” Moreover, this database contains information from authorized journals and articles, well-recognized worldwide. During our research for the PICO(T) question, we found several relevant articles from the “Journal of Renal Care,” the “Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare,” and the journal “Kidney Medicine,” which is another valuable and relevant resource for our PICO(T) inquiry.

These resources provide accurately supported claims, and the purpose of the resource is consistent with the purpose of the PICO(T) question. Similarly, the journal “Kidney Medicine” is the most valuable and relevant resource. Being an official journal of the National Kidney Foundation, it complies with the national organization’s standards, indicating the journal’s authority. It fulfills the CRAAP crite