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Tips for Building a PICO(T) Question

Tips for Building a PICO(T) Question

PICO(T) Elements How to Identify Each PICOT Element
P Patient/Population/Problem Who is your patient or population? Consider the following:
  • Age group
  • Gender
  • Race
  • Healthcare setting
What is your patient/population's problem? Consider the following:
  • Condition or illness
  • Disease process
  • Diagnosis
  • Life situation
  • Nursing diagnosis
  • Symptoms
  • Self-care deficits
I Intervention/Variable of Interest What intervention can you as a nurse implement for your patient/population?  Consider the following:
  • Nursing interventions
  • Therapies
  • Alternative/complementary/holistic therapies
  • Medication administration/management
  • Pharmacologic interventions
  • Non-pharmacologic interventions
  • Procedures
  • Patient education techniques
C Comparison For NURS 3290, your C (Comparison) will be standard care or usual care 
O Outcome(s) What is the desired outcome or optimal effect of the intervention? Consider the following:
  • Improvement of [fill in the blank]
  • Prevention/prophylaxis of [fill in the blank]
  • Reduction in [fill in the blank]
  • Decreased rate of [fill in the blank]
  • Patient outcomes
  • Quality of life
  • Patient safety
  • Satisfaction
  • Knowledge
T Time How long would it take to reach a desired outcome? Or, what is the time frame of your patient scenario? Consider the following:
  • Within [fill in the blank] weeks/months/year(s)
  • Preoperative/perioperative/postoperative period
  • Hospital length of stay
  • Patient's lifespan
  • Patient's treatment duration
  • Recovery period
  • These are only examples. The timeframe can be very specific or very broad


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