<p>We review the so-called Nikiforov-Uvarov method along with some basic results about classical orthogonal polynomials and hypergeometric functions related to the hypergeometric differential equation. The method is employed to address certain eigenvalue problems that appear in quantum mechanics, namely, time-independent Schrödinger equation, paying special attention to properly and completely characterizing its spectrum. Finally, some potentials are discussed and solved.</p>