Therapeutic Use of Music and Television in Neurocritical Care: A Practice Survey

Introduction: Although health care providers often play music via radio, or play television, to calm and sooth patients, limited research is available to guide practice. Method: This study used a 17-item practice survey that was distributed electronically to neurocritical care society members in July 2014. Responses were collated and analyzed using SAS (Version 9.3). Results: There were 118 completed responses, including from 71 attending physicians, 9 resident or fellow physicians, 30 nurses, and 8 affiliate professional members. The majority of respondents sometimes or always play music (65%) and agree that music is therapeutic (70%). However, there was no clear practice pattern regarding when or why music or TV should be used as an intervention in the neurocritical care unit. Conclusion: The use of music and TV is a common intervention in the neurocritical care unit but lacks a strong scientific foundation and is associated with a high practice variance.