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Evidence-Based Practice | PICO | Databases: Anatomy - Articles - Diseases - Drugs - eBooks - Tests

Source:  UC Davis Library

Five Steps of Evidence-Based Practice:

1. Ask a searchable clinical question;
2. Find the best evidence to answer the question;
3. Appraise the evidence;
4. Apply the evidence with clinical expertise, taking the patient's wants/needs into consideration;
5. Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the process.

Source:  Darrell W. Krueger Library, Winona State University

Source: Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing

Tips for finding evidence-based practice journal articles in our databases:

• Use databases from the Articles section below
• When given the option, choose advanced search
• Apply these limits (depending upon the database you are in):
  • "Evidence-Based Practice" under "Limit your results" in CINAHL Plus with Full Text [CINAHL image]
  • "Evidence Based Healthcare" under "Document type" in Consumer Health Database [Consumer Health image]
  • "Evidence Based Healthcare" under "Document type" in Health & Medical Collection [Health & Medical image]
  • "Evidence Based Healthcare" under "Document type" in Nursing & Allied Health Database [Nursing & Allied Health image]
  • "Evidence Based Healthcare" under "Document type" in Public Health Database [Public Health image]
• Alternatively, you can build "evidence based" and related phrases into your search terms:
  • Sample search: "preventing falls" and "evidence based"
  • Related phrases to try:
    • "clinical trials"
    • "meta analysis"
    • "case studies"
    • "expert opinion"

Source: DAVIS'S DRUG GUIDE FOR NURSES® - 18th Ed. (2023)

More information about evidence-based practice:

• Evidence Based Practice Toolkit | Winona State University
  • See especially:  Levels of Evidence
• "Evidence-Based Practice, Step by Step: Searching for the Evidence"
• Evidence Based Nursing Practice: Searching the Literature | Mayo Clinic
• Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice | Health Sciences Library, Upstate Medical University

PubMed Training Course

• Using PubMed in Evidence-Based Practice | National Library of Medicine

The format:

P – Patient, problem or population 
I – Intervention 
C – Comparison, control or comparator 
O – Outcome(s) (e.g. pain, fatigue, nausea, infections, death)

Source:  Learning Resources Center, Logan University

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