If we can not locate synthesized evidence relevant to our topic, we will need to search for unfiltered evidence using the PICO Tool to refine the practice question.
Refine your PICO question:
P - Patient/Population: Who are you interested in (e.g., diabetic patients, post-operative patients)?
I - Intervention: What specific treatment or approach are you considering (e.g., pain management technique, educational intervention)?
C - Comparison: Is there an alternative intervention you want to compare it to (e.g., standard pain medication vs. a new technique)? This might not be applicable in all cases.
O - Outcome: What are you hoping to achieve (e.g., reduced pain scores, improved patient satisfaction)?
Step 2. Visit the SMH Medical Library and conduct a literature search -
SMH Medical Library Digital Library - use the search terms relevant to your topic that coincide with your PICO question.
Narrow down the search by using terms that will pull EBP articles such as:
| Evidence-based practice, ebp, or best practice | Quality Improvement, Quality of care |
| Guidelines, protocols, practice guidelines, clinical practice guideline | Meta-analysis, systematic review, literature review, overview |
| Nurse, Nurses, Nursing | Treatment outcome, Therapeutic use, Hospital Setting (or specify ie. ICU, Peds, etc) |
When Searching, use a combination of the search fields to create your search:
| AU Author | use for Author search |
| AB Abstract | use to discern specific terms like "ERAS" etc. |
| TX All Text | use for large range search |
| TI Title | use to narrow down the topic by selecting words found in the title |
| SO-Journal | use if searching known journals ie. AORN |
| SU-Subject | use for topic of search ie. Surgical site infection |
Use filters to narrow down or sort the search:
| Scholarly Journal | Check to limit to Peer Review |
| Pub Date | Limit to date range |
| Source Types | Limit to Academic Journals |
| Publication | Limit to journal subset |
| Geography | Limit to location (USA, Europe) |
| Databases | Limit to Medline or CINAHL |
Sign in to EBSCO to save your articles in a folder - click the folder to add an article.
