First Edition a 2013 Doody’s Core Title and AJN Book of the Year Award Winner!

This text provides top-tier guidance for DNP students, graduate faculty, APRNs and other healthcare providers on how to use available research for improving patient outcomes and reducing costs. It is the only resource written expressly to meet the objectives of DNP courses. This second edition is completely updated and features three new approaches—umbrella reviews, mixed method reviews, and other types of reviews--for seeking, synthesizing, and interpreting available evidence to improve the delivery of patient care. The text also includes two new examples of completed systematic reviews and two completed proposals.

The book presents, clearly and comprehensively, the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct a foundational comprehensive systematic review (CSR). It encompasses the complexities of the entire process, from asking clinical questions to getting the evidence into practice. The text includes question-specific methods and analysis and compares CSR methods, literature reviews, integrated reviews, and meta-studies. It describes how to find and appraise relevant studies, including the non-published “grey” literature and criteria for selecting or excluding studies, and describes how to use the results in practice. Also examined are ways to disemminate findings to benefit clinical practice and support best practices, and how to write a CSR proposal, final report and a policy brief based on systematic review findings. Plentiful examples, including two completed proposals and two completed systematic reviews, demonstrate every step of the process. An expanded resource chapter that can serve as a toolkit for conducting a systematic review is also provided. The text also covers useful software and includes objectives, summary points, end-of-chapter exercises, suggested readings and references.

New to the Second Edition:

• Three new chapters presenting new systematic review approaches: umbrella reviews, mixed method reviews, and other types of reviews including rapid and scoping reviews and reviews of text and opinoin
• Two new examples of completed systematic reviews
• Completely updated content throughout
• Detailed information to foster systematic review research question development, efficient literature searches, and management of references

Key Features:

• Delivers the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct a CSR from start to finish
• Serves as the only CSR resource written expressly for the advanced practice nurse
• Describes useful software for conducting a systematic review
• Provides rich examples including two completed CSRs
• Includes objectives, summary points, end-of-chapter exercises, suggested readings and references
• Provides a comprehensive toolkit of resources to complete a systematic review