Music: A Mellow Out For Mechanical Ventillated Patients

Music therapy holds significant promise as a complementary intervention in the ICU. Its ability to reduce anxiety, manage pain, improve physiological parameters and provide emotional support makes it a valuable addition to the care of critically ill patients with mechanical ventilation. As the body of evidence supporting its benefits continues to grow, music therapy has become an integral part of holistic ICU care, offering healing and hope beyond traditional medicine. Music can serve as a distracter by diverting attention away from an unpleasant stimulus. Musical compositions are complex blends of organized sound and is universally valued for its therapeutic properties which invokes both psychological and physiological responses within the listener. The physiological responses to music occur as music passes through the auditory cortex to the limbic system, affecting the ANS, which controls the cardiovascular, respiratory, neuroendocrine, and immune systems of the body. Music produces psychological responses by engaging the right hemisphere of the brain, which is involved in intuitive and creative methods of processing information. From the auditory cortex, music is processed in the limbic system known as the center of emotions, sensations, and feelings where by it impacts on individual’s emotional state. Conclusion: To improve the patient care and health related quality of life in mechanical ventilated patients, nurses need to use music therapy as interventions to place individuals in the best possible environment to promote health, healing, and restoration. This concept paper describes the various therapeutic mechanisms of music and discusses the physiological, psychological and hormonal effects of music on mechanical ventilated patients