LibGuides: Nursing Resource Guide: Topic/Research Question

Choose a Topic

Find ideas in:

Your syllabus
Your text
Class discussion
Your life
Current events

Find Background Information

Background information helps you:

Start thinking about your topic
See the big picture
Identify major issues
Discover something that interests you

Use an encyclopedia source to do general background research. Use quality, professionally produced sources to familiarize yourself with the topic (not just Google and Wikipedia).

Try some of these:

Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
Encyclopaedia Britannica, along with a world atlas, world factbook, journals, magazines, images and videos.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
A collection of over 500 specialized reference works covering every major subject.

Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
The Encyclopedia covers all major health professions, including nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy and more.
Encyclopedia of Nursing Research
Comprehensive and concise, entries provide the most relevant and current research perspectives and demonstrate the depth and breadth of nursing research today.

PICO

PICO is a mnemonic device used to describe the four elements of a good clinical foreground question:

PICO is a mnemonic used to describe the four elements of a good clinical foreground question:

P = Population/Patient/Problem

I = Intervention of Interest

C = Comparison intervention or issue of Interest

O = Outcome(s) of Interest

T = Time of Interest