Nurses' Awareness of and Intention to Use Music Therapy in Practice

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and pain are prevalent symptoms experienced by inpatients in acute, long-term and rehabilitation care settings. There is a need for effective relief from these symptoms without increasing the risks as a result of the intervention. Empirical evidence supports the use of music as a complementary therapy for the management of anxiety and pain. However, there is limited knowledge of nurses’ awareness of and intention to use music therapy in clinical practice. AIMS: This study examined nurses’ awareness of and intention to use music therapy for the management of anxiety and pain, and factors that influenced nurses’ intention to implement music therapy in practice. A conceptual framework incorporating elements of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Triandis’ Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour guided the study. METHOD: A correlational, survey-type design was used. The sample consisted of 161 Registered Nurses who were currently providing direct care to patients in acute, rehabilitation and long-term care settings in Ontario. Data were collected using adapted instruments that were pilot tested. RESULTS: Attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, moral norms, and awareness were positively and moderately (all β > 0.20, p < .05) associated with nurses’ intention to use music therapy for the management of anxiety and pain. Role beliefs, selected demographic and professional characteristics were not significantly related to nurses’ intention to use music therapy for either anxiety or pain management. Nurse, client and unit factors were additional factors reported by nurses as affecting their use of music therapy in practice. IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggested the need for strategies to educate nurses about music therapy to facilitate its implementation in clinical practice. Research exploring why nurses are unaware of music therapy as an intervention and revisions to the current conceptual framework to incorporate additional factors influencing intervention use are required.Ph