An Innovative Approach to Teaching Evidence-Based Practice: Use of PICO Pal.

Background: An innovative remote learning intervention, PICO Pal, was implemented with groups of undergraduate nursing students in a nursing research course to promote interactive learning, collaboration, and information literacy.
Problem: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a challenging topic to teach nursing students, especially in a remote learning environment.
Approach: PICO Pal used Apple Numbers to facilitate remote group work on a PICOT poster. The approach was evaluated using pre- and posttest surveys with 50 undergraduate nursing students at a small private university in New Jersey.
Outcomes: The evaluation showed positive perceptions of the assignment and gains with knowledge of EBP. However, there were no gains in the perceptions of group work.
Conclusions: The assignment was effective at teaching aspects of the EBP process but should be reevaluated to maximize group work dynamics and comfort with use of technology.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)