Implementing a Nurse-Driven Aromatherapy Protocol to Decrease the Effect of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting

This is a quality improvement project that aims to assess the effect of nurse-driven administration of essential oil aromatherapy on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients while in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) after general anesthesia.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV)
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Lavender Essential Oil; Other: Ginger Essential Oil

Detailed Description

In this three-month quality improvement project, nurse-driven aromatherapy will be offered to all patients in the main PACU setting at the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) Houston Healthcare Southeast Hospital after they have undergone surgical procedures with general anesthesia, with the exception of patients who report allergies or sensitivity to ginger or lavender essential oils (EO) and patients who wish to be excluded from the project.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 200
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Pasadena, Texas, United States, 77504
      • HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• PACU patients who are in the main PACU setting at HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast Hospital after having undergone general anesthesia for a surgical procedure

Exclusion Criteria:

• patients with allergies or sensitivity to ginger or lavender essential oils
• patients who wish to be excluded from the project

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Aromatherapy with Essential Oil; Within 5 minutes of arrival at the PACU, the PACU nurse will proactively offer the patient a 2x2 gauze with two drops of essential oil (patient's choice of ginger or lavender essential oil) for all patients who have opted to participate, regardless of their nausea and vomiting status. Participating patients will continue to use the essential oil during their stay in the PACU, which is typically 45-60 minutes.

Other: Lavender Essential Oil; Within 5 minutes of arrival at the PACU, the PACU nurse will proactively offer the patient a 2x2 gauze with two drops of essential oil (patient's choice of ginger or lavender essential oil) for all patients who have opted to participate, regardless of their nausea and vomiting status. Participating patients will continue to use the essential oil during their stay in the PACU, which is typically 45-60 minutes.; Other: Ginger Essential Oil; Within 5 minutes of arrival at the PACU, the PACU nurse will proactively offer the patient a 2x2 gauze with two drops of essential oil (patient's choice of ginger or lavender essential oil) for all patients who have opted to participate, regardless of their nausea and vomiting status. Participating patients will continue to use the essential oil during their stay in the PACU, which is typically 45-60 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Number of Post-Operative Nausea and Vomiting Episodes While in the PACU	during stay in PACU (about 45-60 minutes)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
PACU Length of Stay	PACU length of stay is the time between PACU admission and PACU discharge, measured in minutes.	time between PACU admission and PACU discharge (about 45-60 minutes)
Number of Participants Who Use Antiemetics While in the PACU		during stay in PACU (about 45-60 minutes)
Patient Satisfaction as Assessed by the Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey	The Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey is scored from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating greater satisfaction.	at discharge (about 1 hour after PACU admission)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Collaborators: HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Julie George, RN, MSN, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 30, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): June 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 25, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 25, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): March 30, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 2, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 30, 2021
• Last Verified: June 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: aromatherapy
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Postoperative Complications; Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Nausea; Vomiting; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting
• Other Study ID Numbers: HSC-SN-20-1306

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No