PICOT Statement Paper – Improving Patient Safety

PICOT Statement Paper – Improving Patient Safety
The importance of good staffing ratios in delivering high-quality patient care is one of the
key findings in the landmark report released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Nursing care is
critical because it determines the quality care and patients’ health care outcomes. Acute care
settings place a high burden on nursing staff because of the high levels of care required (Shekelle
et al., 2013). Health care organizations have constantly implemented strategies to enhance patient
safety within acute care settings. Research studies advocate for the need to maintain good
staffing ratio and frequent bedside reports to minimize adverse effects caused by poor staff ratio
and infrequent bedside reporting among hospitalized patients. Accordingly, this paper develops
and describes a PICOT question relating to improving patient safety in acute care units.
PICOT Question/Statement Development
Identified components of PICOT:
P – Population of Focus – Patients admitted in acute care units
I – Intervention – Good staff ratios and frequent bedside reporting
C – Comparison – Poor staff ratios and infrequent bedside reporting
O – Outcome – Improving patient safety
T – Time – The time of hospitalization
PICOT Question: “For patients admitted in acute care units (P), how does good staff ratios and
frequent bedside reporting (I), as compared to poor staff ratios and infrequent bedside reporting
(C), help in improving patient safety (O) during the time of hospitalization (T)?