State of the science of music interventions. Critical care and perioperative practice

Music therapy is an easy to administer, relatively inexpensive, noninvasive intervention that can reduce anxiety and pain in critical care and perioperative patients. Libraries of relaxing music selections need to be compiled, reflecting diverse musical tastes. Providing patients with the opportunity to partake in music therapy sessions, selecting their own music, and providing them with quiet, uninterrupted time to listen to the music provides patients with a sense of control and separation from the multiple environmental stressors they are experiencing. Although there is now an extensive empirical base for the therapeutic usefulness of music therapy, particularly with the myocardial infarction population, few hospitals have adopted music therapy programs. Patient satisfaction and outcomes clearly have improved after music therapy sessions have been implemented. Further study with more diverse samples with a wider variety of medical conditions is indicated. Most of these studies used only one or two music sessions. It is not known whether effectiveness of music therapy sessions improves with repeated exposures. Further, there are little data with respect to optimal time for implementation of music therapy, length of music therapy sessions, or types of music to use. The effects of cultural diversity have not been addressed. Music therapy can improve the quality of care that critical care and perioperative nurses deliver to their patients.