Developing a Research Question for Effective Pain Management

Running head: ASSESSMENT 2
Evidence-Based Practice
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ASSESSMENT 2
Introduction
Post-Anesthesia Care Units typically comprise of patients who are admitted
temporarily, following any surgical procedure and forms a vital component of medical
facilities and hospitals (Potestio et al., 2015). Pain management is imperative for providing a
relief from the signs and symptoms of nociception (Gatchel et al., 2014). However, treatment
of pain is commonly complex and also results in adverse impacts, when not monitored and
administered in an appropriate manner. In addition, there are two main types of pain
management namely, opioid treatment and non-opioid treatment that are implemented for
reducing pain severity. This assignment will develop a research question by using PICO(T)
framework for effective pain management.
PICO (T) question and its components
According to Straus et al. (2018) the commonly accepted definition of evidence based
practice (EBP) encompasses the explicit, judicious and conscientious usage of best available
and contemporary evidences that help in making decisions realted to the care of particular
patients. In other words, integration of clinical expertise with evidences that are best available
helps in conducting a systematic research. Non-pharmacological management of pain
involves treatment without the administration of medications and utilises different methods
such as, psychological conditioning, education, hypnosis, comfort therapy, neurostimulation,
occupational and physical therapy, and counselling (Koh, Nguyen & Jahr, 2015). Time and
again it has been proved that the initial step for evidence based practice is to formulate a
clinical question that is searchable and answerable (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017).
Failure to formulate such an accountable question makes the entire practice of
research flawed. The PICOT framework will be utilised for creating a research question that
would focus on an aspect of non-pharmacological pain management. The PICOT question

2ASSESSMENT 2
framework can be described as a consistent formula that facilitates retrieving scholarly pieces
of evidences that are pertinent to the research phenomenon under investigation (Echevarria &
Walker, 2014). The different components of the framework are presented below:
Component Question element Description
P Patients admitted to Post-
Anesthesia Care Unit
(PACU)
The population or person on
is interested in, in order to
effectively manage some
health abnormality. Cautious
consideration of the setting
and patient of interest is
essential
I Music therapy The strategy that is expected
to bring about a difference
in the selected population.
With an increase in
specificity of the
intervention, the search
becomes more focused
C Pharmacological treatment
for pain management
Comparison is typically
measured against the chosen
intervention and can
comprise of either placebo
or true control
O Increased patient satisfaction This is typically considered
the end point of a research

3ASSESSMENT 2
where the outcomes are
identified, thereby assisting
the researcher to locate
evidences relevant to the
research question
T 1-2 months It denotes the time required
for the chosen intervention
to accomplish a definite
outcome in the target
population
Table 1- PICO(T) framework for developing a research question
Following the aforementioned PICO(T) framework facilitated the development of a
research question for evidence based practice that is given below:
Does application of music therapy for 1-2 months, as a non-pharmacological
intervention, increase satisfaction among patients admitted to Post-Anesthesia Care Unit?
Databases to be used
There are a large quantity of electronic databases and search engines that are available
for probing relevant pieces of scholarly evidences. While there are a plethora of electronic
databases that provide a complete search function in an unrestricted manner, others have a
controlled level of evidence probing and often offer an all-inclusive search function based on
subscription. Two databases that will be selected for conducting the literature search are
namely, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Medical
Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE). Relevant articles published in