Systematic reviews: Brief overview of methods, limitations, and resources

Abstract

Systematic reviews are a valuable resource for nurses in academia and practice.1-3 Well done systematic reviews, which include but are not limited to meta-analyses, offer an efficient way to evaluate large amounts of information for decision-makers in areas of research, policy, and patient care. Systematic reviews can help us know what we know about a topic, and what is not yet known, often to a greater extent than the findings of a single study.4 The process is comprehensive enough to establish consistency and generalizability of research findings across settings and populations.3 A meta-analysis is a type of systematic review that statistically combines results of multiple quantitative studies. According to Grant and Booth,5 “although many systematic reviews present their results without statistically combining data in this way, a good systematic review is essential to a meta-analysis of the literature” (p. 98).