Name
Chamberlain University
NR-585: Research Methods and Evidence-Based Practice for Advanced Nursing Practice
Prof. Name
Date
Name: ___________________
The PICOT framework is an essential tool for guiding evidence-based nursing practice. It helps clinicians develop well-structured clinical questions that inform research and practice improvements. Nursing professionals must evaluate practice concerns that influence patient safety, organizational outcomes, or overall quality of care.
For this assignment:
Use the PICOT Worksheet Template to organize your response.
Follow APA guidelines, ensuring correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and scholarly tone.
Cite at least two scholarly sources to strengthen your analysis.
Ensure compliance with Chamberlain University’s academic integrity policies.
The sections below include the required components for completing the PICOT exercise.
Falls among hospitalized older adults represent one of the most significant patient safety challenges in healthcare. These falls often result in serious injuries, prolonged hospital stays, increased healthcare costs, and reduced quality of life. Although hospitals implement standard fall prevention strategies, these measures are not always tailored to individual patient needs and may therefore have limited success.
A personalized fall prevention program that considers each patient’s risk factors, such as medication use, cognitive decline, and mobility impairments, may offer a more comprehensive approach. This is especially relevant for advanced practice nurses who play a critical role in patient safety, care coordination, and health promotion. By adopting evidence-based strategies, nurses can enhance outcomes, decrease hospital readmissions, and improve long-term patient well-being (Fukumoto et al., 2022; Muir, Gopaul, & Montero Odasso, 2020).
The PICOT framework organizes the clinical question into five essential elements.
| PICOT Element | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| P – Population and Problem | What is the nursing practice concern or problem and whom does it affect? | The concern involves hospitalized older adults who are at a high risk of falls due to age-related factors, medications, and comorbidities (Muir et al., 2020). |
| I – Intervention | What evidence-based solution for the problem would you like to apply? | A tailored fall prevention program that involves individualized assessments, patient-specific interventions, environmental adjustments, and staff collaboration (Fukumoto et al., 2022). |
| C – Comparison | What is another solution for the problem? | The comparison group will use standard hospital fall prevention strategies, including safety rounds, alarms, patient education, and assistive devices. These measures are less individualized (Muir et al., 2020). |
| O – Outcome | How will you know the intervention worked? | Effectiveness will be measured by the reduction in fall incidence, documented through incident reports and nursing logs, and compared with the standard practice group (Fukumoto et al., 2022). |
| T – Timeframe | What is the timeframe or target completion date? | Outcomes will be evaluated over a 6-month period to determine program effectiveness (Muir et al., 2020). |
The population includes older adults admitted to hospitals who are vulnerable to falls due to impaired mobility, chronic illnesses, and polypharmacy. This group experiences higher risks of injury and complications, making fall prevention a crucial nursing priority.
The intervention involves implementing a tailored fall prevention program. This strategy emphasizes individualized care plans, physical therapy sessions, patient and family education, and frequent risk reassessments. Evidence suggests that tailoring care to specific risk factors produces more effective results than generalized approaches (Fukumoto et al., 2022).
The comparative approach consists of standard fall prevention practices already common in hospital settings, such as call-light reminders, bed alarms, and general education sessions. While these practices offer some level of safety, they often fail to account for patient-specific needs (Muir et al., 2020).
The desired outcome is a measurable decline in the number of reported falls among hospitalized older adults. Data collection will include pre- and post-intervention fall rates, nursing documentation, and incident reports.
The program will be implemented and evaluated over a 6-month timeframe, allowing sufficient time to gather reliable data and compare fall trends between intervention and standard practice groups.
PICOT Question:
In hospitalized older adults (P), how does implementing a tailored fall prevention program (I) compared to standard fall prevention measures (C) affect the incidence of falls (O) within 6 months (T)?
Standard PICOT Breakdown:
P = Hospitalized older adults
I = Tailored fall prevention program
C = Standard fall prevention measures
O = Incidence of falls
T = 6 months
Identifying keywords is critical for conducting a literature review. The following keywords can be applied to scholarly database searches:
| PICOT Element | Keywords |
|---|---|
| P (Population) | Older adults, hospitalized patients, fall risk |
| I (Intervention) | Tailored fall prevention program, customized intervention |
| C (Comparison) | Standard fall prevention, routine care, hospital protocol |
| O (Outcome) | Fall reduction, patient safety, incidence of falls |
| T (Timeframe) | 6 months, short-term outcomes, intervention duration |
Fukumoto, T., Nemoto, T., & colleagues. (2022). Effectiveness of a tailored fall-prevention program for discharged older patients: A multicenter, preliminary, randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1585. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031585
Muir, S. W., Gopaul, K., & Montero Odasso, M. (2020). The role of cognitive impairment in fall risk among older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Age and Ageing, 51(5), afac077. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afac077
