| PICOT Question Idea | Examples of PICOT Questions |
| Diabetes type I and II | |
| Emergency Department overcrowding | In Emergency Departments (P), does the application of overcrowding indices (I), compared to raw ED volumes, influence the prognostic accuracy for over-crowding related outcomes (increased error rates, length of stay, staff burnout), reliability, patient/physician satisfaction, and external validity (O)? |
| Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) | Among neonates in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) (P), does receiving Skin-to-Skin Care (SSC), compared to not receiving SSC (C), improve outcomes of emotional closeness between infant and the mother(O)? For all neonates (P), should vitamin K prophylaxis (I) be given for the prevention of vitamin K deficiency bleeding (O)? For neonates requiring prolonged resuscitation and at risk of HIE (P), should head or body cooling (I) be initiated to prevent death and sequelae (O)? For term, preterm, and SGA neonates with hyperbilirubinemia (P), when should the options of exchange transfusion be performed or phototherapy be instituted (I, C), depending on the day of life (T), in preventing morbidity and sequelae (O)? In children aged 2-59 months (P), what is the most effective antibiotic therapy (I, C) for severe pneumonia (O)? In children with acute severe malnutrition (P), are antibiotics (I) effective in preventing death and sequelae (O)? Check out other examples from the NCBI website to formulate a NICU picot for your paper or assignment. |
| Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) | In Post-Acute Care Unit adult patients with indwelling urinary catheters (P), how do Nurse-Led Initiative Interventions (I) compare to usual care affect (C) incidence and rate of CAUTIs (O) within six months (T)? For hospitalized patients with an indwelling urinary catheter (P), does the use of a criteria-based reminder system (I) reduce the risk of CAUTs (O) compared to the use of no reminder system (C)? |
| Obesity or childhood obesity | In school-age children (P), what is the effect of a school-based physical activity program (I) on a reduction in the incidence of childhood obesity (O) compared with no intervention (C) within a 1-year period (T)? Are kids with adoptive parents(I) at an increased risk for obesity (O) compared with kids without obese adoptive parents (C) during ages 5 and 8 (T)? |
| Central Line CLABSI | In hospitalized patients that have central line access (P), does the use of alcohol-impregnated port protectors (I) have a lower infection rate (O) compared to no alcohol-impregnated port protectors (C)? |
| Hourly Rounding | In an adult, inpatient hospital setting, does purposeful hourly rounding (PHR), compared to no rounding, reduce patient falls over a period of 30 days during the same time period from the previous year? In modern healthcare facilities (P), does the hourly rounding technique (I), compared to the no hourly rounding approach (C), reduce patient falls (O) for a duration of 30 days from the preceding year (t)? In the adult population in acute care settings (P), how does hourly rounding (I) compared to not rounding (C) affect the incidence of falls (O) over a thirty-day period (T)? The pilot project goal is to decrease fall rates by fifty percent at the end of a thirty-day period. |
| Covid 19 | In patients with Covid 19 (P), does the performance or nutrition risk assessment(I) versus non-performance (C)improve clinical outcomes(O)? In children recovering from Covid-19 (P), does supplemental nutrition (I), compared to ad-lib diet (C), improve growth and weight parameters (O)? In patients with obesity who have had severe COVID-19 (P), does weight loss (I) vs weight maintenance or weight gain (C) improve metrics of recovery (O)? |
| Surgical Site Infection | In adult surgical patients (P), how does the use of a universal SSI bundle (I) compared to the usual standard of care (C) affect the number of SSI (outcomes) within 30 days post-operation (T)? In adult surgical patients (P), which elements of an SSI bundle(I) provide the best evidence (C) in preventing SSI (O) within 30 days post-operation (T)? In the prevention of SSIs (O), how does the use of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) (I) compared with povidone-iodine or other solutions (C) impact the development of SSIs (O) within 30 days postoperatively (T)? |
| Stroke | In patients 18 years and older coming into the emergency room (ER) (P), what new interventions in stroke protocol (I) compared to the current interventions (C) will produce better outcomes (O)? What is the difference between the administration of t-PA and Heparin in patients diagnosed with stroke and success in the prevention of disabilities? For a patient with stroke, is early rehabilitation impairment-based therapy intervention effective compared to usual care (UC) therapy? In ischemic stroke patients, how does neurological rehabilitation differ for those who received tPA versus those who did not and proceeded with other anticoagulation therapies to reduce neurological and physical deficits for patients one-year and long-term post-stroke? In elderly patients 65 years or older who have experienced an ischemic stroke, how effective is acupuncture compared to standard stroke therapy in improving mobility over a 12-week period following the event? |
| Nurse burnout | Do nurses, who practice stress management, have less burnout compared to nurses who do not practice stress management? Do nurses who practice regular stress management strategies versus quitting the profession have better outcomes for nurse burnout within six months? For ED nurses, how does a nurse education program addressing coping skills for work-related stress impact job satisfaction, patient satisfaction scores and reduce nurse desensitization? For critical care nurses (P), how does burnout education, assessment, intervention, and support (I), compared to no education, assessment, intervention, and support (C), affect nurse-reported burnout and professional wellbeing (O)? |
| Smoking Cessation | |