This systematic review has some limitations. Primarily, the inclusion criteria were only for Swedish studies in certain databases published in English between January 2000 and March 2013 resulting therefore in a more national perspective on pediatric oncology caring science rather than giving the full picture of international research. But, because of its relatively small size, centralized organization, net-working among staff, evidence-based standard of care, pediatric oncology as practiced in Sweden is an ideal focus for this literature review. Therefore the possibility of translating research results into clinical implications and standardized care is expected to be high. Furthermore, other settings which are similar to Sweden's through this review easily come to an understanding of how pediatric oncology care as focused on its nursing and psychosocial aspects can best be practiced.
Furthermore, despite the wide range of keywords in combination with the manual search, it is possible that some potential studies within the target area have been missed. Another possible limitation of this study was the absence of a quality review process for the included articles prior to the analysis process. This was deemed unnecessary, however, as all included studies had undergone a peer-review process prior to being published. The thirdlimitation is related to the analysis process; the first author (KE) carried out the main part of the analysis, which could be influenced by earlier experiences and preconceptions. However, the credibility of the results is strengthened by the fact that further data analysis was conducted as a rigorous collaboration among the article authors. A final methodological consideration that must be made regarding this review is that the Swedish pediatric oncology setting is not likely to be representative of international practice.