Searching Databases
When you decide to purchase a new car, you first decide what is important to you. If mileage and dependability are the important factors, you will search for data focused more on these factors and less on color options and sound systems.
The same holds true when searching for research evidence to guide your clinical inquiry and professional decisions. Developing a formula for an answerable, researchable question that addresses your need will make the search process much more effective. One such formula is the PICO(T) format.
In this Discussion, you will transform a clinical inquiry into a searchable question in PICO(T) format, so you can search the electronic databases more effectively and efficiently. You will share this PICO(T) question and examine strategies you might use to increase the rigor and effectiveness of a database search on your PICO(T) question.
To Prepare:
Review the Resources and identify a clinical issue of interest that can form the basis of a clinical inquiry.
Review the materials offering guidance on using databases, performing keyword searches, and developing PICO(T) questions provided in the Resources.
Based on the clinical issue of interest and using keywords related to the clinical issue of interest, search at least two different databases in the Walden Library to identify at least four relevant peer-reviewed articles related to your clinical issue of interest. You should not be using systematic reviews for this assignment, select original research articles.
Review the Resources for guidance and develop a PICO(T) question of interest to you for further study. It is suggested that an Intervention-type PICOT question be developed as these seem to work best for this course.
By Day 3 of Week 4
Post a brief description of your clinical issue of interest. This clinical issue will remain the same for the entire course and will be the basis for the development of your PICOT question. Then, post your PICO(T) question, the search terms used, and the names of at least two databases used for your PICO(T) question. Describe your search results in terms of the number of articles returned on original research and how this changed as you added search terms using your Boolean operators. Finally, explain strategies you might make to increase the rigor and effectiveness of a database search on your PICO(T) question. Be specific and provide examples.
Searching Databases
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliations
Searching Databases
Searching databases is a crucial step in the process of making a clinical inquiry. The reason is that it enables the investigator to locate research evidence to address a clinical practice problem (Stillwell et al., 2010; Melnyk et al., 2018). The clinical issue of interest that will form the basis of clinical inquiry is the rise in the rates of medical errors in the organization in the recent past. A comprehensive investigation into the issue has revealed that limited staff knowledge in a number of clinical practice areas is the main factor contributing to high rates of medical errors in the facility.
A searchable question usually helps the investigator to easily and effectively navigate databases to locate the best possible evidence. The researcher has developed the answerable question in the population, intervention, comparison, and time period (PICOT) format (Davies, 2011) as stated below;
PICOT
“In patients with different types of illnesses (P), how do on-the-job staff educational programs (I) compared with lack of staff education (C) affect rates of medical errors (O) within a period of four weeks (T)?”
Google Scholar, CINAHL, and PubMed are the databases searched to locate research evidence. The search terms used during the search in relation to the practice question include medical errors, staff education and medical errors, medication errors reduction, and reducing medical errors. The use of these key phrases during database search has enabled the researcher to find articles with the best evidence to address the PICOT.
The original search generated different results in all three databases. The number of articles returned on Google Scholar, CINAHL, and PubMed were 23,210, 25,170, and 26,781 studies respectively. The number of articles reduced in each of the three databases when search terms were added using the Boolean operators (Library of Congress, n.d.). Examples of strategies to increase the effectiveness and rigor of a database search on the PICOT question include entering search terms together with synonyms and including indexing terms when entering key phrases.
References
Davies, K. S. (2011). Formulating the evidence-based practice question: A review of the frameworks for LIS professionals. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 6(2), 75–80. https://doi.org/10.18438/B8WS5N. Retrieved from https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/article/viewFile/9741/8144
Library of Congress. (n.d.). Boolean operators and nesting. Search/Browse Help – Boolean Operators and Nesting: LC Catalog (Library of Congress) (loc.gov)
Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2018). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
Stillwell, S. B., Fineout-Overholt, E., Melnyk, B. M., & Williamson, K. M. (2010). Evidence-based practice, step by step: Asking the clinical question: A key step in evidence-based practice. American Journal of Nursing, 110(3), 58–61. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000368959.11129.79. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Fulltext/2010/03000/Evidence_Based_Practice,_Step_by_Step__Asking_the.28.aspx