PICOT Question: P: Opioid users in rural areas, I: how does giving them access to Medication Assisting Treatment Programs, C: compared to no intervention O: reduce opioid use and improve patients’ quality of life T: after the program.  Population: Opioid users in rural areas  Intervention: Access to Medication Assisting Treatment Programs Comparison: No intervention NURS 6052 EVIDENCE-BASED PROJECT,

 NURS 6052 EVIDENCE-BASED PROJECT, PART 2: ADVANCED LEVELS OF CLINICAL INQUIRY AND SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS

My clinical topic issue was opioid use disorder. There are many debates regarding how to treat opioid use from medications, CBT, counseling, group therapy, and substance abuse programs. All have an impact on people, but which shows the most effectiveness? Each day, society loses many victims to this deadly disease. Addiction strikes each family, and healthcare providers must help end this battle. One study I found reported, “In Colorado, recent reports showed that 1:10 residents live in places with no access to treatment and many in remote rural areas have to travel over 30 miles to seek treatment” (Amura, et al.,2022, p. 2).  Offering access to healthcare can change the lives of many families, individuals, and communities. Substance users in rural areas suffer due to the lack of access to medication assisting treatment programs. My PICOT question is for individuals suffering from opioid use disorder in rural areas, how does giving them access to medication-assisting treatment programs reduce opioid use and improve patients’ quality of life after the program? 

PICOT Question: P: Opioid users in rural areas, I: how does giving them access to Medication Assisting Treatment Programs, C: compared to no intervention O: reduce opioid use and improve patients’ quality of life T: after the program. 

Population: Opioid users in rural areas 

Intervention: Access to Medication Assisting Treatment Programs

Comparison: No intervention

Outcome: Reduction in opioid use with an overall improvement in quality of life

Time frame: after the program 

Search Terms and Databases Utilized for Search

I searched the Walden University Library for articles regarding my clinical topic. My initial search was for the subject, Nursing. All the nursing databases were used, including PubMed, CINAHL, ProQuest, and Medline. In the search bar, I searched for the term opioid crisis. I refined the results from 2017 through 2023, full text only, and peer-reviewed articles. Other terms I used were opioid use disorder, medication assisting programs, and rural areas or rural communities. 

Search Results, Articles Returned, and Changes from the use of Boolean Operators 

The search results went from 9.104 to 6,376. I then added the terms medication assisting treatment. It brought the number of articles down to 202. I searched each article for full text and read the beginning to see if it matched my clinical topic. “Maintaining an awareness of the different options for structuring searches broadens the potential uses of the frameworks” (Davis, 2009, p.79). I chose four peer-reviewed primary articles to help justify my PICOT question.

Database Strategies to Increase Rigor and Effectiveness

Many strategies are utilized to increase the rigor and effectiveness of nursing research. Refining your results and using Boolean operators are just a few strategies to minimize your research and give you more effective results. The Boolean Operators with keywords and terms used will help gear your articles as well. Using parentheses with keywords “and” and “or” will give you the greatest preciseness (Walden University, n.d., 2023). It is important to look at the content of the research article on the first page to see the summary of the content. I look into the aim of the research, methods, and results to see if it aligns with my topic of choice. The key to finding the best evidence is considering the components of the PICOT question (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2018, p. 18). Evidence-based guides are clinical questions and offer us standards of care to improve each patient’s overall health. 

REFERENCES:

Academic guides: Keyword searching: Finding articles on your topic: CONNECT KEYWORDS. Connect Keywords – Keyword Searching: Finding Articles on Your Topic – Academic Guides at Walden University. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/keyword/Boolean

Amura, C. R., Sorrell, T. R., Weber, M., Alvarez, A., Beste, N., Hollins, U., & Cook, P. F. (2022). Outcomes from the medication assisted treatment pilot program for adults with opioid use disorders in rural Colorado. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-021-00424-4Links to an external site.

Davies, K. S. (2011).