NUR 315 Module 1 PICO(T) Worksheet: Final Version Example

Reviewed by Ingrid Vasterling, MSN, RN Arizona State University Updated October 2026

This NUR 315 Module 1 sample is the final PICO(T) Worksheet in Nursing Research and Application to Practice, the research course in ASU's prelicensure BSN sequence. ASU NUR 315 builds every paper in the course on this worksheet, which moves from a question idea in draft 1 to a question with two articles in draft 2 and a graded final version. The composite student, a junior on an ICU clinical rotation in Phoenix, asks whether patient-directed music reduces anxiety and sedative use for adults on mechanical ventilation. The worksheet breaks the question into its elements, records the search, explains the choice of a randomized trial run in several ICUs and an interview study of patients' lived experience and notes what changed between drafts.

CourseNUR 315 Nursing Research and Application to Practice
ModuleModule 1
Paper typePICOT worksheet with article selection
LengthAbout 459 words, 4 pages
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolArizona State University
ProgramBSN in Nursing
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for NUR 315 Module 1

1

Music While the Ventilator Breathes: A PICO(T) Worksheet on Anxiety in Mechanically Ventilated Adults

Student Name

Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University

NUR 315: Nursing Research and Application to Practice

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingThe title names the intervention and the population in plain words, which tells faculty at a glance what the worksheet and the three papers that follow will address.
2

Music While the Ventilator Breathes: A PICO(T) Worksheet on Anxiety in Mechanically Ventilated Adults

Clinical Observation

During my ICU clinical rotation, I cared for a man on a ventilator who kept reaching for his endotracheal tube. His nurse increased his sedation twice in one shift. His daughter told us he had always calmed down to old country music. I wondered whether music could ease anxiety without more sedation.

PICO(T) Elements

ElementMy question
P (population)ICU adults breathing through a ventilator
I (intervention)Patient-directed music listening with headphones
C (comparison)Usual care without music
O (outcome)Anxiety and amount of sedative medication
T (time)During the period of mechanical ventilation

Final PICO(T) Question

Among ICU adults on a ventilator (P), does music the patient chooses and controls (I), compared with standard care without music (C), lower anxiety and the amount of sedation given (O) while they remain intubated (T)?

What this page is doingWriting each element in the table before the full question shows faculty the question is complete and that each part can be searched separately.
3

Question Type and Best Evidence

Questions about whether an action works are answered best by a trial in which chance decides who gets the action. A qualitative study can add something a trial cannot: what being on a ventilator feels like and why anxiety is so common.

Search Record

Databases: CINAHL Complete and PubMed through the ASU Library. Search terms: ("music listening" OR "music therapy" OR music) AND ("mechanical ventilation" OR "ventilator") AND ("anxiety" OR "sedation"). Limits: English, peer reviewed, adults. For the qualitative search: ("mechanical ventilation" OR "ventilator") AND ("lived experience" OR "phenomenolog*" OR "qualitative") AND ("intensive care").

Article 1: Quantitative

Chlan, L. L., et al. (2013), a randomized clinical trial of 373 ventilated adults in 12 ICUs comparing patient-directed music, noise-canceling headphones and usual care. Why it fits: it matches my population, intervention, comparison and both outcomes, anxiety and sedative exposure, and it uses the strongest design for an intervention question (Chlan et al., 2013).

Article 2: Qualitative

Karlsson, V., et al. (2012), a phenomenological study of 12 adults who were conscious during mechanical ventilation, interviewed about a week after leaving the ICU. Why it fits: it explains the experience behind the anxiety my question targets, including breathlessness, being unable to speak and feeling powerless (Karlsson et al., 2012).

What this page is doingEach article is matched to the question with a one-line reason, and the two designs are chosen to answer different parts of it, which is what the final version is graded on.
4

Changes Between Drafts

Draft 1 asked whether music "helps ICU patients." Faculty feedback said the population and outcome were too broad, so draft 2 narrowed the population to ventilated adults and the outcome to anxiety. A Cochrane review of music for ventilated patients also turned up and will support the first paper as background (Bradt & Dileo, 2014). In the final version I added sedative exposure as a second outcome after reading Article 1, because reducing sedation matters for how quickly patients come off the ventilator, and I replaced a qualitative article about families with one about patients themselves.

References

Bradt, J., & Dileo, C. (2014). Music interventions for mechanically ventilated patients. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (12), Article CD006902. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD006902.pub3

Chlan, L. L., Weinert, C. R., Heiderscheit, A., Tracy, M. F., Skaar, D. J., Guttormson, J. L., & Savik, K. (2013). Effects of patient-directed music intervention on anxiety and sedative exposure in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilatory support: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA, 309(22), 2335-2344. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.5670

Karlsson, V., Bergbom, I., & Forsberg, A. (2012). The lived experiences of adult intensive care patients who were conscious during mechanical ventilation: A phenomenological-hermeneutic study. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, 28(1), 6-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iccn.2011.11.002

What the NUR 315 Module 1 instructions ask for

The posted syllabus describes the PICO(T) Worksheet Series as the foundation for every paper in NUR 315. Draft 1, worth 3 points, is only an idea for a question and may change. Draft 2, also 3 points, adds a PICO(T) question and two possible articles, one quantitative and one qualitative. Both drafts earn credit for complete work, even with errors. The final version, worth 10 points, is graded for errors, accuracy and the appropriateness of the articles. Expect to write each element of the question, the full question, a record of your search and a short justification for each article. Because the three EBP papers depend on these two articles, choose studies you can appraise in depth: full text available, clear methods and a design that truly matches quantitative or qualitative.

Inside the NUR 315 Module 1 example

The worksheet opens with the clinical observation that prompted the question, then lists each PICO(T) element in a table before writing the full question. Calling it an intervention question leads into why a trial answers "does it work" and an interview study answers "what is it like." The search record lists databases, terms and limits for both searches so they can be repeated. Each article gets a citation summary and a one-line reason it fits the question. A final section explains what changed from draft 1 to draft 2 to the final version and why. The two articles become the basis of all three course papers.

Where the marks sit in the NUR 315 Module 1 rubric

The final worksheet earns its points on correct, complete PICO(T) elements, a clear, answerable question, appropriate article choices with one truly quantitative and one truly qualitative study, a reproducible search and correct APA references. A question earns full credit when each element is specific enough to search. Article choice is the most common point loss, so confirm the design from the methods section, not the title. Showing how feedback shaped the final version demonstrates growth, though it is optional on some rubrics. Clean APA formatting matters because the references carry into every paper. Errors are forgiven on drafts but not here.

NUR 315 Module 1 help with common mistakes

Many worksheets choose a "qualitative" article that is really a survey with percentages; check that the study analyzes words, such as interviews, rather than numbers. Another common problem is a population so broad, such as "patients," that the search returns thousands of results. Keep the comparison realistic; usual care is often the right choice. Save the full text of both articles now, since you will appraise them in detail later. A rough question from your own clinical day is all the desk needs to draft a worksheet. Attend the search mentoring session before the final version is due. Ask a librarian if your search returns too few studies.

Write yours, or have the desk draft it

This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.

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NUR 315 Module 1 questions, answered

Where can I find a free NUR 315 Module 1 sample paper?

The worksheet above is a complete NUR 315 PICO(T) Worksheet final version on music for ventilated ICU patients, with a search record and one quantitative and one qualitative article.

How many drafts does the NUR 315 PICO(T) worksheet have?

Two drafts worth 3 points each, then a final version worth 10 points graded for accuracy and appropriate articles.

What articles does the NUR 315 worksheet need?

One quantitative and one qualitative research article that inform your PICO(T) question; all three course papers build on them.

How do I know if an article is qualitative?

Read the methods section: qualitative studies analyze words from interviews, focus groups or observation rather than numbers.

What is a PICO(T) question?

It is a way of writing a bedside question in five labeled parts, the who, the what, the compared with what, the result and the timing, so each part becomes a search term.