Nurses' Expectations of Using Music for Premature Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

This study aimed to describe nurses' expectations of using music for premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and to find out about the related background factors. The subjects consisted of 210 Finnish nurses who were recruited from the country's five university hospitals providing premature infant care in NICU. The data were collected by validated questionnaire, and the response rate was 82%. Most nurses preferred recorded music to live music in the NICU. They expected that music would have positive effects on premature infants, parents, and staff. Few demographic and many background factors of the respondents' music-related experiences correlated significantly with the expectations concerning their preference. In conclusion, the nurses' expectations were positive regarding the use of music in the NICU, which supports evidence regarding the efficacy of music therapy for premature infants.