One of the primary skills required for medical practice is the ability to formulate clinical questions correctly. Such issues must meet two basic requirements: they must relate directly to the relevant clinical case and be expressed in such a way that it can be answered. The PICOT framework helps to develop a transparent, answerable, and researchable question. This essay will present a question for future research in the PICOT format and how the clinical problem refers to an evidence-based solution, patient care, and other nursing-related issues.
The PICOT question format includes five main variables to state. These parameters are population/patient, intervention, comparison/control, outcome, and time (âWhat is a PICOT question?â, n.d.). The following question was formulated according to the PICOT framework referring to the clinical problem that will be discussed.
In ICU/post-op patients (P), what is the effect of a comprehensive hand-washing and antiseptic rule implementation for staff (I) on improving the rate of HAIs (O) compared with current procedures that simply recommend hand-washing (C) within three months (T)? An intensive care unit (ICU) requires special attention from employees as any healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) may impact the patient outcome significantly. Thus, HAI should be researched in nursing practice.
There is limited data on finding direct positive results from obligatory hand-washing and antiseptic rules established in medical organizations. However, studies state that epidemiological data support the effectiveness of hand hygiene in decreasing HAIs (SickbertâBennett et al., 2016). Researchers from Australia presented evidence-based information that reductions in HAI were in line with the state initiative to implement hand-washing rules universally from 2010 to 2016 (âHand Hygiene Australia,â 2017).
Nursing intervention is inevitable at an intensive care unit of the hospital. There are controversial data on the dependence of nursing intervention and positive patient recovery on antiseptic rules. According to several comprehensive studies, performance feedback given to nurses when they wash their hands consistently when intervening with a patient slightly reduces HAIs (Gould, Moralejo, Drey, Chudleigh, and Taljaard, 2017). At the same time, researchers claim that sometimes WHO guidelines on antiseptic rules implemented in hospitals have unclear results on positive patient outcomes (Gould et al., 2017). Nevertheless, due to the lack of hand hygiene of nurses, the spread of HAIs might increase substantially.
Patient care is also dependent on nursing hygiene established in medical organizations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasizes that the lack of hand-washing practice affects 1 out of 25 hospital patients every day, which means that patient care is at risk when rules are neglected (“Clean Hands Count,” 2017). Health care agencies are one of the main stakeholders that are in charge of encouraging surveillance of antiseptic rules and nursing principles.
For instance, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality provided data on HAIs in hospitals and how hand hygiene contributes to the spread of infections (“The How-Toâs of Hand Hygiene,â 2017). Agencies report the information to publicity and observe that situation in hospitals to ensure that patientsâ recovery will be safe and fast. The nursing practice may improve patient recovery if guidelines and nursing practices education would highlight the necessity of antiseptic rules utilization, according to studies (Martos-Cabrera et al., 2019). Nursing care unifies patient care, nursing intervention, and other principles, which are crucial for patientsâ improvement.
To conclude, one might say that the clinical problem identified with the help of the PICOT framework may result in positive patient outcomes when conveyed and tracked appropriately by health care agencies, education organizations, and nurses themselves. It is essential to highlight the consequences that might arise when medical professionals neglect hand-washing practices. Therefore, the issue of antiseptic rules implementation and training should be guided by nurses to help patients recover safely.
References
Clean hands count for safe healthcare. (2017). Web.
Gould, D., Moralejo, D., Drey, N., Chudleigh, J., & Taljaard, M. (2017). Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 9. Web.
Hand Hygiene Australia. (2017). Web.
Martos-Cabrera, M., Mota-Romero, E., Martos-GarcĂa, R., GĂłmez-Urquiza, J., Suleiman-Martos, N., AlbendĂn-GarcĂa, L., Cañadas-De la Fuente, G. (2019). Hand hygiene teaching strategies among nursing staff: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(17). Web.
SickbertâBennett, E., DiBiase, L., Willis, T., Wolak, E., Weber, D., & Rutala, W. (2016). Reduction of healthcareâassociated infections by exceeding high compliance with hand hygiene practices. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 22(9), 1628-1630. Web.
The how-toâs of hand hygiene. (2017). Web.
What is a PICOT question? (n.d.). Web.