NURS 6052 Module 3 Week 4 Discussion; Searching Databases

Discussion: Searching Databases When you decide to purchase a new car, you first decide what is important to you. If mileage and dependability are the important factors, you will search for data focused more on these factors and less on color options and sound systems. The same holds true when searching for research evidence to guide your clinical inquiry and professional decisions. Developing a formula for an answerable, researchable question that addresses your need will make the search process much more effective. One such formula is the PICO(T) format. In this Discussion, you will transform a clinical inquiry into a searchable question in PICO(T) format, so you can search the electronic databases more effectively and efficiently. You will share this PICO(T) question and examine strategies you might use to increase the rigor and effectiveness of a database search on your PICO(T) question. Initial Post The PICO(T) question I chose to search for was “In acute stroke patients with dysphagia, how does an oral care regimen help reduce aspiration pneumonia rather than no oral care regimen?” I chose this question because I currently work in a specialized position called Stroke Navigator. The hospital that I work for has a very strict protocol regarding stroke care. One of the guidelines for stroke patients is to complete a bedside dysphagia screen by nursing staff. If the screen is failed, then the patient is to be kept NPO until Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) can assess the patient. During this in-between time bedside staff is supposed to do oral care every two hours. However, I never see staff be diligent in this manner. This makes me question the long-term outcomes related to good oral care versus little to none. To start my search, I used the Walden University Library (n.d.) to search the term “oral care.” This search went across a myriad of databases which have been acknowledged by the University’s Library. The term “oral care” was far too broad and listed over 53,000 results. At this point I knew it was time to use Boolean operators as explained by Library of Congress (n.d.) to help narrow my search. I also chose to use one specific database: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. I found this database by using the dropdown box in the list of databases to narrow my topic to “Nursing” (Walden University Library, n.d.). Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt (2018) praise this specific database for its rigorous study designs which lead to strong levels of evidence. I then searched using the Boolean operator of “stroke AND oral care.” This listen only one article which was published in 2006. I figured just one outdated article was not enough, so I decided to do a new search using MEDLINE with Full Text. This time I used a “nesting” term “oral care (stroke OR dysphagia).” This led to 46 results ranging from 2002-2020. From this point I updated the publication date ranges from 2015-2020, which then decreased the results to 25 articles. Of these 25 articles I found