Also referred to as Evidence-Informed Practice, EBP/EIP is:
“… a problem-solving approach to the delivery of health care that integrates the best evidence from studies and patient care data with clinician expertise and patient preferences and values.”
From:
Figure: Evidence based practice is in the centre of the model and intersects with clinical expertise, patient preferences, resources and research.
PICOT is a valuable tool to assist in the Research component of EBP.
As evidence-based practice evolved in health professions (including nursing) in the late 1990s and early 2000s, PICO (and later PICOT) was developed as the standard way to ask structured, focused, answerable clinical questions. Key words and concepts from the PICOT question could then be used to search nursing and biomedical literature for the best current evidence.
Here's a basic framework for using PICOT as a tool in the search/research process. Note that the PICOT search/research is generally NOT a step-by-step one-directional process; at any point you may need to go back and forth between different stages. Most clinical scenarios can include many potential PICOT questions.
Figure: 1. Discuss clinical scenario 2. Identify PICOT elements & question type 3. Conduct a preliminary literature search 4. Review results 5. Create a focused answerable PICOT question 6. Further lit searches 7. Assess and critically appraise research.
