Exploring the Effects of a Longer Music Listening Session on Reducing Postoperative Pain

Research paper written by University of Scranton graduate student Ise N. Kannebecker as part of her coursework for N594: Theory and Research Application. Kannebecker, a student in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program, was selected by a panel of faculty and staff as the winner of the 2013 Graduate Library Research Prize.Adequate management of postoperative pain remains an ongoing challenge for healthcare providers. Pharmaceutical interventions have been the primary resource and have induced moderate pain reduction, but sufficient coverage still remains elusive. It is well known that complications of unrelieved pain often elicit impaired recovery, elevated costs, and chronic suffering. In seeking to improve care, consideration and interest in adjunct methods of pain control to augment pharmaceuticals continues to surface. This research proposal endeavors to examine the effects that an extended music listening session offered postoperatively may have on postoperative pain in patients recovering from cardiac surgery. This is a quasi-experimental pretest and posttest design involving 93 participants over the age of 18 who will be recovering from thoracic surgery. Participants will listen to music and physiologic and subjective data will be collected before and after the intervention. Instruments used to collect subjective measurements will be the Visual Analog Scale for pain, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for levels of anxiety and relaxation, and instruments used in a routine clinical setting will be used to measure physiologic parameters. Medication time post intervention will also be collected from the chart. Data analysis will consist of descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance between the measures. This research proposal seeks to strengthen the evidence base behind the utilization of music as a palliative adjunct to reduce pain and improve recovery in postoperative patients