Evidence based practice and PICO format - Assignment Example

Evidence Based Practice and PICO Format Evidence Based Practice and PICO Format Question One Evidence-based practice (EBP) entails integral approaches to not only make quality decisions but also incorporate them appropriately in the provision of nursing care. This is achieved by using recently researched, updated and approved methods of care provision alongside the patients’ preferences and care givers’ personal expertise. EBP is oriented towards proven methods that have achieved the most desirable results.

From that perspective, it is clear that its main objectives are to improve the standards of care and at the same time improve patient outcomes in terms of safety and quality. Therefore, EBP can also be said to aim at using evidence to change practice for the better, mainly because it builds on the collection, analysis, appraisal and incorporation of clinically applicable, significant and valid research. In the practice setting, EBP is brought into use by encouraging the concept of inquiry. Current methods are questioned, providing the platform for the search and collection of relevant evidence, focusing on both ethical and legal issues.

After the evidence is critically appraised, it is used to change questionable practices that have been in use previously. Question Two In the clinical setting, wound care management is a common nursing practice that requires a critical search for evidence in terms of how it should be conducted. Since the wound has already occurred, treatment is an inevitable part of the healing process. As a healthcare practitioner, formulating a question regarding the treatment of the wounds in terms of recognizing effective interventions and reducing risk factors then eventually resulting in improved prognosis is imperative.

Male children are naturally hyperactive, and from the P perspective of the PICO (T) concept can be perceived as a vulnerable population to injuries and consequential problems of the wounds due to the activities of their stage in life. A viable question would be: “how wounds frequently found on boy children should be treated differently from those on adults and girl children?” This involves a critical question because it is gender specific and evidence can be provided that focusing on boy children actually targets a particular population (Yoder-Wise, 2007).

Depending on where they are brought up, treatment of wounds does not necessarily have to be based on sanitizing wounds and requiring operations, albeit minor ones. Rather than stereotyping all childhood wounds to arise from cuts and bruises occurring from simple falls, some can rightly be considered to come from knocks and collision and be treated as such instead of requiring intrusive treatment. On the other hand, some could come from poisonous substances boys may encounter in games oriented to them, such as hunting in bushes or fighting games involving sharp objects.

The C part of PICO may require comparison with previous cases, but every case can also be considered as a remote one and handled as per its specific requirements. The key point is that the outcome, or O part of PICO, is aimed at achieving patient-oriented results rather than what is traditionally known to be based on a commonly occurring scenario. Wounds that occur to persons of different sexes and gender must also be addressed according to their preferences to aid the psychological healing process rather than generalizing them to procedures not welcomed by the patients.

ReferencesYoder-Wise, P. (2007). Leading and managing in nursing (4th ed.). Missouri: Mosby Elsevier.