Nurse's Experience of Using Music Therapy to Relieve Acute Pain in a Post-Orthopedic Surgery Patient

This article describes the experience of a nurse who used music therapy as the intervention to reduce a patient's pain during wound care after orthopedic surgery. The intervention was applied between April 8th and April 29th 2008. The nurse applied Roy's adaptation model as the assessment tool. The major and primary health problem identified was acute pain accelerated by wound care. The pain of this client not only triggered negative feelings, but also affected negatively on his daily life and feelings of self-belongingness. Through an individual-tailored music therapy, the client's pain during wound care was greatly reduced and even completely disappeared. The ultimate outcome of decrease in pain included reductions in negative feelings and increased positive spiritual strength. It is recommended that nurses who are responsible for wound care use this simple and economical music intervention to reduce acute postoperative pain.

Hu Li Za Zhi. 2009 Aug;56(4):105-10. Hsiao TY, Hsieh HF. School of Nursing, Fooyin University, ROC. ns128@mail.fy.edu.tw.