Professional nurses rely on research findings to inform practice decisions; they use critical thinking to apply research directly to specific patient care situations.
Think about an independent nursing practice problem you care passionately about and would be interested in searching for evidence.
The below problems should not be used:
*medical/doctor/physician problems such as medications, or medications administration or effects, diagnostics such as EKGs, labs, cardiac catherizations.
*staffing, nurse-to-patient ratios, workforce issues are organizational/system /political/administrative/multi-stakeholder problems which nursing cannot solve independently.
Describe a significant nursing clinical issue, topic of interest, or practice problem that is important to you. Describe why you chose the problem/topic.Write your clinical question in the PICO(T) format for your nursing practice problem.*To write your clinical question in the PICO(T) format, use the NR439_Guide for writing PICOT Questions and Examples found in your required reading or access the following link:
NR439_Guide for writing PICOT Questions and Examples (Links to an external site.)
List each of your PICOT elements.
Share why you care about this nursing practice problem and why you believe the problem would benefit from finding the best evidence.
I chose to discuss the use of Incentive Spirometers in the post op patient. Incentive Spirometers have been around for years, and to be honest, I haven’t seen them used as much in my career as they are now with Covid-19 patients and would like to explore their use in other clinical settings. During the summer I was frequently floated all over the hospital due to low census on my unit and had experience with numerous post op patients. I had some experiences where they did develop post op infections such as pneumonia, and it always frustrated me, as the patient comes to the hospital in hopes that we make them feel better, not worse. For a patient to undergo surgery, just to have to stay in the hospital longer because of an infection they acquired after they got the surgery while being in the hospital is disappointing, and also affects reimbursements and finances for the hospital, as well as adding to the patient’s bill as well.
During orientation, my facility emphasized the effects of sepsis in the hospital, and preventing infection is also the first step in preventing sepsis from attacking a patient. If sepsis is so heavily emphasized in the orientation period of starting a healthcare career, it must be a detrimental issue that is ongoing and needs to be addressed. In addition, I personally would be very unsatisfied with a facility if I had required a post op infection, knowing there is research out there for ways to avoid acquiring a post op infection through nursing skills. I am eager to see the results of using such a small tool. According to the CDC, “Each day, approximately one in 31 U.S. patients has at least one infection in association with his or her hospital care, underscoring the need for improvements in patient care practices in U.S.” (2020).
Write your clinical question in the PICO(T) format for your nursing practice problem.
PICOT Question-
In the post-op patient (P), does the correct use of the Incentive Spirometer (I), compared to early ambulation (C), decrease the rate of post-op infection (O), over 72 hours (T)?
List each of your PICOT elements.” This means to write them like this:
P: Post op patient
I: Incentive Spirometers
C: Early Ambulation
O: Decrease the rate of post op infection
T: Over 72 hours.
Share why you care about this nursing practice problem and why you believe the problem would benefit from finding the best evidence.
I care about this nursing practice problem because a lot of the times I receive a patient from a prior nurse who is post op and has orders for nursing communication to instruct the patient to use the incentive Spirometer as indicated 10x/hr, and there isn’t even an incentive spirometer in the room, or if there is, its just decoration and the patient doesn’t even know how to use it. It is very frustrating. In my experience, it is much easier to get a patient to do something beneficial for themselves when it is easy. A patient can do the Incen
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