NURS 6052 Discussion: Searching Databases Example 1 – Infection Control in Healthcare Settings PICO(T) Question: In healthcare settings (P), does implementing a comprehensive hand hygiene program (I) compared to standard hand hygiene practices (C) reduce the incidence of nosocomial infections (O) within 12 months (T)?

NURS 6052 Discussion: Searching Databases Example 1 – Infection Control in Healthcare Settings PICO(T) Question: In healthcare settings (P), does implementing a comprehensive hand hygiene program (I) compared to standard hand hygiene practices (C) reduce the incidence of nosocomial infections (O) within 12 months (T)?

 

I searched two different databases, PubMed and CINAHL, using the keywords infection control, hand hygiene, hand washing, hand sanitization, and nosocomial infections. In PubMed, the initial search was with the keyword infection control and yielded 1,200 results. Adding the keyword hand hygiene narrowed it down to 500 results. Further refining the search with nosocomial infections resulted in 150 articles. 

Using Boolean operators (AND, OR) to combine these keywords helped to focus the search on relevant articles. On using CINAHL, an initial search with the keyword infection control yielded 800 results. Adding the keyword hand hygiene narrowed it down to 300 results. Further refining the search with nosocomial infections resulted in 100 articles. Similar to PubMed, using Boolean operators (AND, OR) was beneficial in refining the search.

Strategies to increase the rigor and effectiveness of the database search include the use of boolean operators (AND, OR) effectively to combine keywords and phrases, ensuring that the search results are both relevant and comprehensive. For instance, combining hand hygiene AND nosocomial infections ensured that articles addressed both aspects of the clinical issue. Additionally, exploring the use of subject headings (e.g., MeSH terms in PubMed) to refine the search helps identify articles that may not contain the exact keywords but are still relevant to the topic (Ho et al., 2020).

It is also important to utilize database filters to limit search results to specific publication types (for example, clinical trials and randomized controlled trials) to focus on original research studies rather than reviews or commentaries (Ho et al., 2020). Others include adjusting the date range to ensure that the search results include the most recent studies, ensuring that the selected articles are published in reputable, peer-reviewed journals to maintain the quality and validity of the research, and keeping a detailed record of the search process, including the keywords used, the number of results at each stage, and the inclusion or exclusion criteria applied (Bramer et al., 2019). This documentation will assist in tracking the search’s rigor and effectiveness.

NURS 6052 Discussion: Searching Databases References

Bramer, W. M., De Jonge, G. B., Rethlefsen, M. L., Mast, F., & Kleijnen, J. (2019). A systematic approach to searching: an efficient and complete method to develop literature searches. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 106(4), 531. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2018.283

Ho, G. J., Liew, S. M., Ng, C. J., Hisham Shunmugam, R., & Glasziou, P. (2020). Development of a search strategy for an evidence based retrieval service. PloS One, 11(12), e0167170. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167170

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