NUR 318 Module 6 Evidence Evaluation Table Example

Course	NUR 318 Nursing Research and Evidence Translation
Module	Module 6
Paper type	Evidence evaluation table and appraisal questions
Length	About 919 words, 6 pages
Format	APA 7 student paper
School	Arizona State University
Program	RN to BSN
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for NUR 318 Module 6

Seven Sources on Inhaled Agents and Controlled Breathing for Postoperative Nausea: An Evidence Evaluation Table With Appraisal Answers

Student Name

Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University

NUR 318: Nursing Research and Evidence Translation

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingThe title gives the number of sources and both interventions, so the reader knows the table's scope before reaching it.

Seven Sources on Inhaled Agents and Controlled Breathing for Postoperative Nausea: An Evidence Evaluation Table With Appraisal Answers

Purpose and Question

This table brings together the evidence gathered for the course project. The question has been revised twice and now reads: When an adult recovering from same-day surgery says they feel sick in phase II (P), does coached slow breathing, alone or with an inhaled essential oil blend or alcohol pad (I), compared with usual care in which antiemetics are given on request (C), bring down nausea ratings and rescue medication use (O) in the half hour after the complaint (T)? Each source is leveled with the scale from Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt (2023): a review that pools randomized trials sits at Level I, one randomized trial at Level II, and a quasi-experimental study at Level III.

What this page is doingRestating the final PICOT and the leveling system before the table lets the grader check every level assigned against a named scheme.

Evidence Evaluation Table

Source	Design (level)	Participants and site	Tested against	Measured	What was found	Quality note
Hines et al. (2018)	Cochrane systematic review; Level I	16 trials, 1,036 participants	Aromatherapy versus placebo or antiemetics	Nausea severity, nausea-free, rescue antiemetics	No clear effect on severity versus placebo; fewer rescue antiemetics (RR 0.60); isopropyl alcohol shortened time to relief versus antiemetics	Rigorous methods; evidence certainty low to very low
Asay et al. (2019)	Systematic review; Level I	5 RCTs in adult surgical patients	Aromatherapy versus control	PONV incidence	Concluded aromatherapy had a positive effect and could be a complement to antiemetics	Small set; no pooled estimate
Hunt et al. (2013)	RCT, four arms; Level II	301 adults, one ambulatory center	Ginger, oil blend, isopropyl alcohol or saline	Nausea on a four-point verbal scale; antiemetic requests	Blend and ginger beat saline on both outcomes; alcohol did not	Large; placebo arm; single site
Hodge et al. (2014)	RCT; Level II	121 surgical patients with nausea	Commercial aromatic inhaler versus unscented inhaler	Nausea scores; perceived effectiveness	Both groups improved; aromatic inhaler better (P = .03)	Commercial product; modest effect
Sites et al. (2014)	Single-blind RCT; Level II	42 symptomatic of 196 eligible	Controlled breathing with peppermint versus breathing alone	PONV relief at 10 minutes	Breathing alone 62.5% relief, with peppermint 57.7%, not significant	Small, unequal groups
Cronin et al. (2015)	Quasi-experimental, two groups; Level III	82 women, outpatient laparoscopy	Breathing with isopropyl alcohol versus breathing alone	Nausea severity; rescue requests	Both improved; no difference between groups	Convenience sample; women only
Anderson and Gross (2004)	RCT, three arms; Level II	33 ambulatory patients in PACU	Isopropyl alcohol, peppermint or saline	Nausea VAS at 2 and 5 minutes	All arms improved equally; authors suggest breathing pattern explains effect	Very small sample

What this page is doingSeven rows with the same seven columns allow comparison at a glance. The quality column is short but specific, which is what graders look for instead of a generic "good study."

Appraisal Question 1: Are the Results Valid?

Validity is mixed but acceptable for a low-risk comfort measure. The Cochrane review used independent assessors, a broad search and GRADE ratings, and it is the most trustworthy source here, yet it rated most of its own evidence as low certainty because trials were small and measured nausea in different ways (Hines et al., 2018). Among the trials, Hunt et al. (2013) is the strongest: it randomized more than 300 patients, used a saline placebo and analyzed almost everyone enrolled. The smaller trials share weaknesses. Groups in Sites et al. (2014) were unequal, Anderson and Gross (2004) enrolled only 33 patients, and Cronin et al. (2015) used a convenience sample of women only. Blinding is difficult in every scent study, since patients can smell the difference, which may bias self-reported nausea.

Appraisal Question 2: What Are the Results?

The results converge on two points. First, nausea scores fall quickly after almost any inhaled intervention, including saline and plain breathing, and the drop in the comparison groups is often as large as in the treatment groups (Anderson & Gross, 2004; Cronin et al., 2015). Second, where scent did add something, it was a blend of essential oils or ginger rather than isopropyl alcohol or peppermint alone (Hunt et al., 2013), and a commercial blend inhaler showed a modest benefit over an unscented one (Hodge et al., 2014). The pooled result for rescue antiemetics, fewer doses with aromatherapy, is the most practical finding, although its certainty is low (Hines et al., 2018). Peppermint alone showed no pooled effect on severity.

Appraisal Question 3: Will the Results Help in My Practice?

The patients in these studies resemble ours closely: adults recovering from outpatient procedures, nauseated in the PACU, with antiemetics available. The interventions are cheap, quick to teach and low in risk, and none of the trials summarized here reported harm, although adverse events were seldom measured (Hines et al., 2018). Controlled breathing costs nothing and can start the moment a patient reports nausea, which fits a recovery area where an order for a second antiemetic may take several minutes. An essential oil blend adds a small cost and requires an allergy and preference check. Patients would also need to know they can still have medication whenever they want it, consistent with current consensus guidance on rescue treatment (Gan et al., 2020).

What this page is doingAnswering the three appraisal questions as separate headings matches how the assignment is usually set up, and each answer cites the table rows it relies on.

Overall Strength and Recommendation

Read as a whole, these seven sources point the same way, yet none of them earns high confidence. The set supports coaching slow breathing before anything else when a patient reports nausea, with an essential oil blend as an optional adjunct, alongside medication on request rather than in place of it. It does not support stocking isopropyl alcohol pads as a nausea treatment on their own. The next step in the course is to plan how this recommendation would be translated and measured, which the presentation will describe.

References

Anderson, L. A., & Gross, J. B. (2004). Aromatherapy with peppermint, isopropyl alcohol, or placebo is equally effective in relieving postoperative nausea. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 19(1), 29-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2003.11.001

Asay, K., Olson, C., Donnelly, J., & Perlman, E. (2019). The use of aromatherapy in postoperative nausea and vomiting: A systematic review. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 34(3), 502-516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2018.08.006

Cronin, S. N., Odom-Forren, J., Roberts, H., Thomas, M., Williams, S., & Wright, M. I. (2015). Effects of controlled breathing, with or without aromatherapy, in the treatment of postoperative nausea. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 30(5), 389-397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2015.03.010

Gan, T. J., Belani, K. G., Bergese, S., Chung, F., Diemunsch, P., Habib, A. S., Jin, Z., Kovac, A. L., Meyer, T. A., Urman, R. D., Apfel, C. C., Ayad, S., Beagley, L., Candiotti, K., Englesakis, M., Hedrick, T. L., Kranke, P., Lee, S., Lipman, D., ... Philip, B. K. (2020). Fourth consensus guidelines for the management of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 131(2), 411-448. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000004833

Hines, S., Steels, E., Chang, A., & Gibbons, K. (2018). Aromatherapy for treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2018(3), CD007598. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD007598.pub3

Hodge, N. S., McCarthy, M. S., & Pierce, R. M. (2014). A prospective randomized study of the effectiveness of aromatherapy for relief of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 29(1), 5-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2012.12.004

Hunt, R., Dienemann, J., Norton, H. J., Hartley, W., Hudgens, A., Stern, T., & Divine, G. (2013). Aromatherapy as treatment for postoperative nausea: A randomized trial. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 117(3), 597-604. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0b013e31824a0b1c

Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2023). Evidence-based practice in nursing and healthcare: A guide to best practice (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.

Sites, D. S., Johnson, N. T., Miller, J. A., Torbush, P. H., Hardin, J. S., Knowles, S. S., Nance, J., Fox, T. H., & Tart, R. C. (2014). Controlled breathing with or without peppermint aromatherapy for postoperative nausea and/or vomiting symptom relief: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 29(1), 12-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2013.09.008

NUR 318 Module 6 instructions, in plain terms

In the posted syllabus, the Evidence Evaluation Table and Appraisal Questions assignment, worth 5 points, follows the alignment worksheet. You place the studies and reviews you have gathered for your PICOT in a table that records each source's design, level of evidence, sample, intervention, outcomes, findings and quality, then answer the appraisal questions the course provides from Polit and Beck. Those prompts usually probe trustworthiness, then the size and direction of the effects, then fit with your own patients. Canvas may supply a table template with fixed columns. Include at least the two studies from your alignment worksheet and any systematic review you found, since the table should show the strength of the whole body of evidence.

How the NUR 318 Module 6 example is put together

Here the table holds seven sources in identical columns, from a Cochrane review down to a 33-patient trial, so differences in design and quality are easy to compare. Every row ends with a short quality note rather than a label. Three headed sections answer the appraisal questions in order, citing rows from the table for each claim. The validity answer weighs sample size, placebo use and blinding problems; the results answer finds two patterns across studies; and the applicability answer ties cost, risk and timing to a ten-bay ambulatory recovery area. A closing paragraph states the strength of the evidence and the practice recommendation it supports.

Reading the NUR 318 Module 6 grading rubric

Graders typically award points for completeness of the table, correct levels of evidence, accurate extraction of sample, intervention and findings, and appraisal answers that use the table rather than repeat it. A clear overall judgment about the strength of the evidence and a recommendation that matches that strength usually carry weight as well. APA citations in the table and the reference list make up the remaining share. Tables that leave the quality column empty, assign Level I to a single trial, or report findings without numbers tend to lose points on accuracy. Some instructors also award a point for consistent formatting across rows, so keep column order and terms the same.

NUR 318 Module 6 help with common mistakes

Students often put too much text in each cell, which hides the comparison the table is meant to show; use short phrases and keep the explanation for the appraisal answers. Another common slip is copying the authors' conclusions as the findings without checking the numbers. Check that every source in the table also appears in the reference list. When studies disagree, say so and suggest why, rather than averaging them into a vague statement. If your table template differs from the one used here, keep its columns. For a table built from your own saved studies, send the PDFs and template. Keep abbreviations defined the first time they appear, such as RCT, VAS and RR.

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.

More NUR 318 and RN to BSN sample papers

NUR 318 Module 6 questions, answered

Where can I find a free NUR 318 Module 6 sample paper?

This page holds the full evidence evaluation table with seven sources and the written answers to three appraisal questions, followed by an overall recommendation and references.

What levels of evidence should I use in the NUR 318 evidence table?

Use the hierarchy your course assigns. Most NUR 318 sections use one in which systematic reviews of RCTs are Level I, single RCTs Level II and quasi-experimental studies Level III.

How many sources go in the NUR 318 evidence evaluation table?

Include at least the two studies from your alignment worksheet. Adding a systematic review and a few more primary studies makes the appraisal answers stronger. Your rubric may set a number.

What are the appraisal questions in NUR 318?

Expect three: can the findings be trusted, how large and consistent are they, and do they fit the patients you actually care for. Answer each under its own heading and point back to the table rows that support your answer.

Can I recommend a practice change if the NUR 318 evidence is weak?

Yes, if the change is low in risk and cost and you state the evidence strength honestly. Recommend it as an adjunct or pilot rather than a replacement for proven treatment.

NUR 318 Module 6 Evidence Evaluation Table and Appraisal Example