NUR 210, Allegheny: Nursing 210 Research

Anatomy of a Journal Article 

Explains how journal articles are structured and how that can help your research.

THE PICOT METHOD 

Start the search process by using the PICOT method to develop a clinical research question. PICOT stands for:

P = Patient population

I = Intervention

C = Comparison or comparison group

O = Outcome(s)

T = Time                                                                                                                                                                                                               

1. Combine the PICOT elements into a research question like in these examples:

   • For nurses feeling burnout [P], how do pay raises [I] compare to yoga [C] as a treatment [O] after 6 months [T]?

   • For nursing students [P], does the use of mindfulness-based techniques (meditation, yoga, acupuncture, gratitude, journaling, etc.), [I] reduce stress levels [O] compared with exercise [C] over a 3 month period [T]?                                                                      

2. Next, extract the main keywords from the research question to create a database search statement. See these examples:

   • nurses AND burnout AND yoga See CINAHL search results.

   • nurses AND burnout AND salary

   • "nursing students" AND stress AND journaling

   • "nursing students" AND stress AND (journaling OR yoga OR mindfulness) See CINAHL search results