NURS 6052 Discussion: Searching Databases

NURS 6052 Discussion: Searching Databases

Nurses know that staffing ratios are an important piece of a puzzle that is needed to deliver quality patient care with the best possible outcome.  Staffing shortages could be a huge concern for facilities regarding patient safety.  The number of nurses available for patient care has shown to have a substantial effect on patient outcomes and safety (Dong et al., 2020).  It only seems logical that hospitals and care centers who do not have enough staff for the number of patients would struggle greatly.

When searching for “staffing ratios” under the Walden Library Database, “Nursing” was chosen from the drop-down menu and a list of databases related to nursing came up.  After selecting chosen database, the main topic of staffing ratios was entered the search bar along with “nursing” as the Boolean phrase.  Boolean operators help the researcher look for keywords in a specific order that can include terms or filter them out (Library of Congress, n.d.).  For example, when searching for just the term “staffing shortages,” 98 results were available.  When searching for  “staffing shortages” and “nursing,” narrowed down results indicated there were 118 available peer-reviewed articles in the correct date range.

Evidence-based practice lays the groundwork for nurses when it comes to providing sufficient care.  Evidence-based practice starts with curiosity or a question that asks what the best possible way is to complete a task (Fineout-Overholt, 2009).  The framework of a question used for evidence-based practice is PICO.  This clinical question guideline helps breakdown clinical questions (Davies, 2011). “P” aims to identify the patient problem or the primary problem.  In this case it would be inadequate nursing staff in healthcare facilities.  The “I” is the intervention.  For staffing ratios, the intervention would be adequate staffing ratios or lower nurse to patient ratios.  “C” is for comparison.  What is the main comparison?  Inadequate staffing ratios and higher nurse to patient ratios.  The “O” is for outcome.  What is the anticipated outcome?  This would be patient safety and quality of care.

Some strategies that might increase effectiveness of a PICO question search would be using the Boolean search terms and, or, and not to assist in ruling out unwanted key phrases or including more content in the search (Library of Congress, n.d.).  Researchers know that searching for topics results in numerous results and using the Boolean phrase search can help narrow down the search to one’s specific topic of choice.

References

Davies, K. S. (2011). Formulating the evidence based practice question: A review of the frameworks [Required Readings]. Walden University Blackboard. https://class.walden.edu