nursing research class

Think "Evidence-Based Practice."

I think the teacher is looking for some practice or nursing intervention that is supported by some research. As in, they used to do it one way but now they do it this way. Make sense?

LOL - When instructors are obtuse, it is a real disadvantage for online classes. At least in a traditional setting, you can (along with everyone else) ask questions for clarification.. and you can benefit from answers provided to others.

If this is an intro to research class, she probably is trying to get you to explore your own reasoning skills - not do a bunch of in-depth lit searches. For instance, you could say that you learned that glycerine mouth swabs are much better than vasoline for npo patients' mouthcare ... and this would be supported by: your own knowledge (gylcerine is water soluble, non-toxic & the swabs dont taste that bad), hospital policy, and physiology 'facts'... dry mucosa crack and provide entry points to bacteria, petroleum-based products should not be ingested

So - don't over-think it. No need to make yourself crazier than you have to be.

It could be anything, for example a wet-dry dressing change. Why they take it out dry perhaps as to the purpose? Or maybe even why you stand on a certain side while transfering someone with a certain sided weakness. Just think of what you learned and why you learned it and go from there. Good luck