PICOT Question and Search Strategy Template
Use with the library guide: Evidence Based Practice in Nursing & Health Sciences
Define your question using PICOT (review the “Create PICOT Questions” page as needed):
Population: __________________________________________________________________
Intervention: __________________________________________________________________
Comparison: __________________________________________________________________
Outcome: __________________________________________________________________
Time (optional): __________________________________________________________________
Write out your question: ______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Write down the most important words from your question in the gray boxes. For each top term, add synonyms or related terms in the boxes below it. All these are your search terms.
Review the “Best Bets” in the Nursing Databases list. Check the databases you will search:
__ CINAHL Complete (*Recommended)
__ Nursing & Allied Health
__ Public Health Database
__ Health & Medical Collection
__ OVID Nursing Full Text Plus
__ PubMed Central
Write in your first search below. Follow the instructions on the “Find EBP Articles…” page.
AND
AND
OR
OR
OR
OR
AND
AND
Scholarly/peer reviewed Limit publication date:
Type of studies you want to include in your search:
__ Systematic Review or Meta-Analysis
__ Clinical Practice Guidelines
__ Individual Research Studies
__ Critically Appraised Research Studies
What information did you find to help answer your question?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This form is adapted from: Syrene A. Miller, PICO Worksheet and Search Strategy, National Center for Dental Hygiene Research
