NRS-445 Literature Evaluation Table: How to Complete It (Step by Step)

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NRS-445 Literature Evaluation Table: How to Complete It (Step by Step)

The Literature Evaluation Table is where NRS-445 stops being theory and starts being a project. You take your PICOT question, find four primary research articles that speak to it, and lay each one out in a structured table; then write an analysis summary tying them together. It’s the assignment students lose the most time on, almost always at the search stage. This guide walks you through finding the right articles, completing each section, and writing the summary, so you can produce your own table with confidence.

How to use this guide: This explains how the assignment works and how to evaluate articles you’ve chosen yourself. Your table has to be built from your own PICOT and your own sources; that search-and-appraise skill is exactly what NRS-445 is teaching, and what your capstone will need.

What the assignment asks for

After refining your PICOT, you conduct a literature search and select four peer-reviewed primary research articles tied to your clinical problem:

• Two quantitative and two qualitative primary studies.
• A mixed-methods article can count toward either the quantitative or qualitative requirement.
• The two articles you found in your Topic 1 DQ 2 can be reused if they’re still relevant to your refined PICOT.

You then summarize and evaluate each article in the Literature Evaluation Table template and write an analysis summary. The whole thing feeds directly into your literature review and EBP proposal.

Step 1 — The make-or-break part: finding the right articles

Most of the difficulty here isn’t the table, it’s the search. Three distinctions decide whether an article “counts”:

Primary vs. secondary. You need primary research — studies where the authors collected and analyzed their own data. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, literature reviews, and editorials are secondary and don’t count, even though they show up first in most searches. This trips up a lot of students.

Quantitative vs. qualitative. Quantitative studies report numbers and statistics (designs like randomized controlled trials, cohort, or cross-sectional surveys; they test relationships). Qualitative studies report themes from words (designs like phenomenology, grounded theory, or ethnography; they explore experience). You need two of each.

Search smart. Use the GCU Library’s CINAHL and MEDLINE databases, filter for peer-reviewed and ideally the last five years, and pull your search terms straight from your PICOT (population, intervention, outcome). Finding primary qualitative nursing studies is the hardest part — try search terms like “lived experience,” “perceptions,” or “qualitative” alongside your topic.

Step 2 — What each section of the table captures

For every one of your four articles, the table records the same set of details. Knowing what each is asking for is half the battle:

• APA citation + permalink — full APA 7 reference and a working GCU Library link.
• Purpose / research question — what the study set out to find, in one or two lines.
• Study design & methodology — the design (e.g., RCT, cohort, phenomenology) and how you can tell it’s quantitative or qualitative.
• Sample & setting — who was studied, how many, and where.
• Data collection / instruments — how the data were gathered (surveys, interviews, chart review).
• Key findings / results — the main results, stated plainly.
• Strengths & limitations — what the study did well and where it falls short.
• Relevance to your PICOT — how this article supports (or complicates) your practice problem. This column is where the critical thinking points live.
• Level of evidence — rate it using a recognized hierarchy (e.g., Melnyk’s Levels I–VII).

Fill these the same way across all four articles so the table reads consistently.

Step 3 — Writing the analysis summary

The summary is not four mini-reviews stapled together. It’s a synthesis: what do these studies, taken together, tell you about your practice problem? Pull out common themes across the articles, note where they agree or disagree, weigh the overall strength of the evidence, and end by pointing toward the practice change your PICOT proposes. This is the same synthesize-don’t-summarize skill your literature review will lean on.

Common mistakes that cost points

• Using secondary sources — a systematic review or meta-analysis instead of primary research is the single most common error.
• Wrong methodology mix — three quantitative and one qualitative won’t meet the two-and-two requirement.
• Articles that don’t match the PICOT — if a study isn’t about your population/intervention/outcome, it weakens the whole table.
• Summarizing instead of evaluating — the relevance and limitations columns need your judgment, not just a recap.
• Misidentifying design — calling a qualitative study quantitative (or vice versa) signals you can’t tell them apart.
• Outdated or non-scholarly sources — stay peer-reviewed and recent.
• APA slips — citations must be complete, with working permalinks.

How this connects to the rest of NRS-445 — and your capstone

Your table is only as good as the PICOT question that drives it — a vague PICOT makes the search miserable, so tighten that first. Once your table is done, it becomes the raw material for your literature review and your final EBP proposal.

It also carries forward: the NRS-465 capstone uses a Literature Evaluation Table built the same way. If you do strong work here on a capstone-worthy problem, you reuse it later. See how it’s applied in the capstone in the NRS-465 Literature Evaluation Table guide.

→ Back to the full NRS-445 course guide.

Helpful resources

• Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2023). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer. — includes the levels-of-evidence hierarchy.
• Grand Canyon University (Ed.). (2022). Nursing research: Understanding methods for best practice (2nd ed.). — your NRS-445 textbook.
• GCU Library — CINAHL and MEDLINE for primary research; the “Evaluating Sources” and “Citing Sources in APA” research guides.
• CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Programme) checklists — useful for judging the studies you select.

Frequently asked questions

How many articles does the NRS-445 Literature Evaluation Table need? Four peer-reviewed primary research articles tied to your PICOT — two quantitative and two qualitative. A mixed-methods study can count toward either category.

Can I use a systematic review or meta-analysis? No. Those are secondary sources. The table requires primary research — studies where the authors collected and analyzed their own data.

How do I tell quantitative from qualitative research? Quantitative studies report numerical data and statistics (RCTs, cohort studies, surveys). Qualitative studies report themes from words (interviews, phenomenology, grounded theory).

Can I reuse the articles from Topic 1 DQ 2? Yes, if they’re still relevant to your refined PICOT question.

What goes in the analysis summary? A synthesis across all four articles — common themes, agreements and disagreements, the overall strength of the evidence, and how it points toward your proposed practice change.

How does this connect to the capstone? The NRS-465 capstone uses a Literature Evaluation Table built the same way, so strong work here on a capstone-worthy problem gives you a head start.

Spending hours hunting for primary qualitative studies that fit your PICOT? Message us on WhatsApp at +1 564-544-6924 and we’ll help you sharpen your own search and table.