Music and Medicine: Thoughts from a Critical Care Nurse

A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of connecting with Sunnie S. on Twitter. Sunnie is a critical care nurse in a hospital, and she also happens to be a great person willing to share her thoughts with me about the use of music and music therapy in the hospital.

“I want to explain that I see music therapy as the use of music at any time to the benefit of a patient. I work night shift, so there are not MTs around in the hospital, but they are on dayshift. I definitely think that the use of music therapy is a collaboration between the MT and the RN and the patient.”

The therapeutic use of music can come from other medical professionals, too. That’s what’s great about music – it’s so adaptable to many different experiences.

Sunnie’s hospital has a TV channel that plays relaxing music with nature scenes 24/7 and she tells me, “As a nurse, I use it a lot. For patients who are confused, having an exacerbation of their dementia, anxious, angry, nervous, etc., I find that using the music helps as a distraction point for the patient and they are able to stop focusing on whatever is ailing them in that moment.”

In addition to receiving music therapy from MT-BC’s, and therapeutic music experiences from the nurses, 

Sunnie tells me, “In our hospital, we also have Healing Touch practitioners and Massage Therapists who come to assist our patients, they also use music with the patients. When I speak with my patients after a healing touch session, they tell me that the music is so helpful, because they are able to clear their minds and ignore all the noisiness of the hospital around them.”

Additionally, Sunnie feels that music therapy “works with young, old, any age patient really. I find that using music therapy as a complementary therapy is beneficial to my patients. It allows them to de-stress and be distracted which takes the focus off their illness and gives them permission to focus on themselves. I also encourage my patients to bring in their own music (i.e. if they feel Led Zeppelin is healing to them, then by all means we are going to listen to some Led Zeppelin).”

The music therapy research supports the use of Led Zeppelin (or Frank Sinatra, or Eminem) in the hospital, too. Music therapists use a fun little term called “patient-preferred music” to describe this. Basically, whatever music a patient or client already has the strongest connection to tends to yield the best therapeutic outcomes.

Another music therapy technique is called “procedural support,” which is when a music therapist assists another medical professional, such as a doctor or a nurse, with a difficult or painful procedure by reducing a patient’s experience of pain and by helping to keep the patient calm or distracted.

Sunnie has seen this music therapy technique at work. “During my clinical rotations in nursing school, music therapy was used in conjunction a lot in pediatrics for procedures like IV insertions and NG tube placements. Now that I work in adult populations, I see it used in procedures (like Interventional Radiology) where the patient is semi awake for the procedure. I see that it helps the patient to remain calm and relaxed in a foreign environment.” (Music therapists call that last part “normalizing the environment.” Hard to focus on how freaky a hospital room can be if someone is belting out your favorite song in your face.)

I was also excited to hear that music is not only being used to benefit the patients Sunnie sees, but also the hospital staff. “I also think that music therapy is beneficial to staff. We use the music channel at night when it’s been busy to help us focus and find a peaceful center amidst a chaotic shift.”

I can imagine that it’s a good thing for everyone - patients, nurses, and doctors -  when the medical staff feels focused and centered!

Thank you again, Sunnie, for being willing to share your thoughts and experiences with me! (You can follow Sunnie on Twitter!)

If you are a professional from any other field (medicine, education, speech therapy, etc,) and would like to share your thoughts on music therapy, please feel free to drop me a line!