Meta-analysis: strategies to strengthen postanesthesia care unit study results

Meta-analysis is a research method used to synthesize findings across multiple studies that tested similar variables on similar subjects. An overview of meta-analysis is presented and defined in an eight-step approach. A meta-analysis of the effect of preoperative instruction on postoperative outcomes is applied to the eight defined steps. Implications for postanesthesia nurses include the usefulness of meta-analysis as a method of building knowledge by examining findings and drawing conclusions from multiple, single-institution studies conducted with small sample sizes.