The Use of Music to Manage Burnout in Nurses: A Systematic Review

There is a high prevalence of burnout in nurses. This systematic review investigates the use of music to manage burnout in nurses.

MEDLINE (Ovid), MEDLINE InProcess/ePubs, Embase, APA PsycINFO, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched.

Full-text articles were selected if the study assessed the use of music to manage burnout in nurses. Burnout was defined according to the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision.

Data were extracted using an Excel sheet. The second and third authors independently extracted study characteristics, frequency and type of music engagement, measures of burnout, and burnout outcomes (occupational stress, coping with stress, and related symptoms such as anxiety).

Study and outcome data were summarized.

The literature search resulted in 2210 articles and 16 articles were included (n = 1205 nurses). All seven cross-sectional studies reported upon nurses' self-facilitated use of music including music listening, playing instruments, and music entertainment for coping or preventing stress, supporting wellbeing, or enhancing work engagement. Externally-facilitated music engagement, including music listening, chanting, percussive improvisation, and song writing, was reported in the four randomized controlled trials and five cohort studies with reductions in burnout outcomes.

Self-facilitated and externally-facilitated music engagement can help to reduce burnout in nurses.