Understanding and Interpreting Meta-analysis: Recommendations for Nurses Meta-analysis studies are scientific research that generates most powerful evidence, guide evidence-based practices and contribute scientific knowledge accumulation. Meta-analysis, a statistical procedure that integrates the results of several independent studies, plays a central role in evidence-based nursing. Meta-analysis is often regarded as one of the best sources of evidence for clinical nurses due to its rigorous design and scientific reflection of the true results of nursing interventions. The understanding, implementation and interpretation of meta-analyses is very important to improve research capacity and provide more reliable evidence support for nurses. Nurses can use the strong evidence from Meta-analysis to change existing practices and increase the effectiveness of clinical care, the provide better quality and reliable care, the create care guidelines and reduce costs. The quality of a meta-analysis is critical for clinical decision-makers to put into practice. Meta-analysis is a powerful tool for accumulating and summarizing the knowledge in a research field, and to determining the overall measure of the effect of a treatment by combining several conclusions. However, it is a controversial tool, because even small violations of certain rules can lead to misleading results. In addition, misinterpretation of meta-analyses may lead to ineffective or harmful treatment being administered. The purpose of this review is to describe the meta-analysis process and to discuss important points that can guide nurses to critically read and understand meta-analyzes and to interpret the results correctly. Key words: Meta-Analysis, Quality, Evidence-Based Nursing.