title: [Asking answerable questions].
abstract: Using evidence-based methods to integrate current best evidence into clinical and health care decision-making is widely acknowledged as an effective way to resolve clinical problems and promote nurses' professional abilities. While many nurses are familiar with the five steps of the evidence-based method (i.e., asking, acquiring, appraising, applying, and assessing), novices often encounter difficulties in the first step (asking) because either their questions are not adequately specific or they fail to formulate the PICO structure. This article explains specific skills needed to formulate questions and provides practical examples for clinical staff in order to provide a step-by-step approach intended to make it easier for novices to perform evidence-based nursing proficiently.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. wwyang290@cde.org.tw
authors.forename: Wen-Wen
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003657:Decision Making; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing; D006801:Humans