NURS FPX 4025 Assessment 3: Heart Failure and the PICO(T) Process
One of the research methodologies is PICO(T), which leads to precise, applicable, and evidence-based solutions to clinical questions. It aids the realization of evidence-based practice (EBP) by doctors. Even though not every case is a concern, P in the PICO(T) case represents patients, population, or problem, I represent the intervention, C means comparison or control, O-outcome, and T- time. PICO(T) procedure may serve as a buffer to refine search findings and reduce the list of available evidence that can be reached in clinical cases. In NURS FPX 4025 Assessment 3, the PICO(T) methodology will design a research question on the issue of heart failure and then use the research to answer the question.
Heart Failure
Heart failure is the persistent disease that concerns a big number of individuals globally. This condition can be investigated by the use of PICO(T) in clinical decision making. Overall, the quality of life in HF has been linked with poor quality of life, elevated hospitalization, and negative mortality. There are nearly 6 million citizens with heart failure in the United States alone (Roger & Clinic, 2021). When the body functional needs overpower the cardiac output, acute illness advances to heart failure (HF). According to the findings of the American Heart Association (AHA) using the PICO(T) framework in nursing, the previous use of tobacco, high blood pressure, obesity, increased cholesterol, and a deficiency of physical exercise are some of the factors that raise the risk of having heart failure (AHA, 2025). Although most of these risk factors are being believed to be changeable, there are still risk factors, such as history of
The negative outcomes of heart failure (HF) include decreased quality of life, cardiaccachexia, arrhythmia, acute lethal cardiovascular events, increased numbers of hospitalizations, and thrombosis (Malik & Chhabra, 2023). Moreover, although the disease is not new and medical community shows its great interest, HF patients still die with a high rate. PICO model for research can apply in the case of a five-year survival of patients with newly diagnosed heart failure which is estimated to be at approximately 50 percent (Roger & Clinic, 2021). These effects and consequences can be much more serious in the case of populations that have become historically marginalized. These populations often do not have quality healthcare, so it affects their general health adversely. This problem can be resolved with the help of nursing research PICO questions. The most exposed to heart failure (HF) are the Black people and then Hispanic people (Bozkurt et al., 2023). They could be attributed to the presence of institutional racism and health inequity in the social determinants of health, and these groups have a greater risk of developing the cardiac risk factor of heart failure as compared to whites (Bozkurt et al., 2023). As a consequence of the above-mentioned healthcare disparities, the Black and Hispanic individuals tend to develop heart failure issues and unsatisfactory outcomes in general. This was raised in NURS FPX 4025 Assessment 3.
PICOT Question
Patients with heart failure have very frequent readmissions. During a 30-day interval after recovery, roughly a quarter of patients with HF in a healthcare facility were
Research Process
The technique of searching into the evidence involved numerous databases and search terms to answer the PICO(T) question. The databases which were utilised were Pub-Med Central, Proquest Nursing Databases, and CINAHL Complete. As the search continued, criteria were employed, so that only results that are peer-reviewed and in English language of the past five years could be utilized. The key words used were; heart failure, readmissions and telehealth. To narrow the results further, even the keywords telemedicine and e-health were mentioned to search. The type of the study was also taken into consideration in order to select the most appropriate evidence that could be used in PICO(T) in clinical decision making.
A systematic review and meta-analysis research study that aimed to determine the impact of mobile health applications on the outcomes of patients with heart failure (Ni et al., 2024) was the other piece of evidence selected. This study can be used in PICO(T) in clinical decision making. One of the outcomes we covered in this review was
The following PICO(T) question can be addressed with the help of the evidence: How do telehealth visits affect hospital readmission rates for HF patients over a 12-month period when compared to standard care? The telehealth logic of telemonitoring was not statistically significant when used to lower the rehospitalization rate in patients with heart failure (Stergiopoulos et al., 2024), which can be investigated using the PICO(T) framework in nursing. This is one of the sources of evidence. NURS FPX 4025 Assessment 3 noted that while telemonitoring was found to be insignificant in lowering readmission rates, other telehealth interventions might have comparable effects. According to a systematic review and meta-analysis by Ni and colleagues (2024), hospitalization rates for heart failure patients generally decreased after the introduction of a mobile health application that allows patients to track their symptoms, report vital signs, schedule telehealth visits with providers, and access educational materials. Ramtin and colleagues’ other systematic review and meta-analysis from 2023 showed how the PICO model for research and showed that distance education had a favorable impact on HF patients’ readmission rates. Since both studies found that distance education, including the use of mobile applications and access to telehealth phone calls and video visits reduced rehospitalization among patients with heart failure, the paper by Ni and colleagues (2024) supports the study by Ramtin and colleagues (2023). As discussed in NURS FPX 4025 Assessment 3, telemedicine seems to be able to lower hospital readmissions as compared to not employing telehealth modalities, according to the research that has been presented. For the most part, telemonitoring
References
American Heart Association (AHA). (2023, March). What is heart failure? heart.org. Retrieved March 20, 2025, from https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-failure/what-is-heart- failure
Bozkurt, B., Ahmad, T., Alexander, K. M., Baker, W. L., Bosak, K., Breathett, K., Fonarow, G. C., Heidenreich, P., Ho, J. E., Hsich, E., Ibrahim, N. E., Jones, L. M., Khan, S. S., Khazanie, P., Koelling, T., Krumholz, H. M., Khush, K. K., Lee, C., Morris, A. A., Page, R. L., 2nd, … Writing Committee Members (2023). Heart failure epidemiology
https://doi-org.library.capella.edu/10.1016/j.cardfail.2023.07.006
Malik A, Chhabra L. (2023). Congestive heart failure. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430873/
Ni, Y.-X., Liu, X.-H., He, L., Wen, Y., You, G.-Y., & Igarashi, Y. (2024). Mobile application‐ based interventions for people with heart failure: A systematic review and meta‐ analysis. Journal of Nursing Management, 2024, 1–14. https://doiorg.library.capella.edu/10.1155/2024/6859795
Oskouie, S., Pandey, A., Sauer, A. J., Greene, S. J., Mullens, W., Khan, M. S., Quinn, K. L., Ho, J. E., Albert, N. M., & Van Spall, H. G. (2024). From hospital to home: Evidence-based care for worsening heart failure. JACC. Advances, 3(9), 101131. https://doiorg.library.capella.edu/10.1016/j.jacadv.2024.101131
Ramtin, S., Yazdani, Z., Tanha, K., & Negarandeh, R. (2023). The impact of distance education on readmission of patients with heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nursing Open, 10(7), 4205-4215. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1698
Roger, V. L., & Clinic, M. (2021). Epidemiology of heart failure. Circulation Research, 128(10), 1421. https://10.1161/circresaha.121.318172
Stergiopoulos, G. M., Elayadi, A. N., Chen, E. S., & Galiatsatos, P. (2024). The effect of telemedicine employing telemonitoring instruments on readmissions of patients with heart failure and/or COPD: A systematic review. Frontiers in digital health, 6, 1441334. https://doi-org.library.capella.edu/10.3389/fdgth.2024.1441334
