MC Library Research Guides: Nursing: PICO-T

Databases for PICOT Research

CINAHL Complete
Nursing and allied health journals including scholarly journal articles, dissertations, magazines, pamphlets, evidence-based care sheets, books, and research instruments.

To perform a PICO Search in CINAHL Complete:

Nursing and Allied Health Reference Source
Evidence-based point-of-care resource for nurses, nurse administrators, nursing students, and nursing faculty. Key features are access to nursing care plans, drug information, disease information, nurse management and leadership topics, nursing skills checklists, video demonstrations of nursing practices, and more.
Nursing Journal Collection (Ovid)
Provides full text for 60 core nursing journals, including AJN (American Journal of Nursing).

The PICOT question format is a consistent "formula" for developing answerable, researchable questions.

Population/Patient Problem - Who is the patient? (Age, Sex, Geographic location)
Intervention - What is the management strategy? (Diagnostic testing)
Comparison - Is there a comparison on control management strategy?
Outcome - What are the patient consequences of the intervention?
Time - What is the time frame?

Northern Arizona University
Example PICOT questions from Northern Arizona University
University of Toledo
Example PICOT questions from the University of Toledo Library
University of Virginia-Claude Moore Health Sciences Library
Examples of PICOT questions from the University of Virginia Claude Moore Health Sciences Library