Do you use music therapy?

Specialties NICU

Published

Specializes in NICU, PICU, educator.

We have a sound system set up in our unit, but we don't use it. We were once told that we can't use it in the presence of O2, which I am going to be looking into. Do any of you use the speaker things like they have in regular rooms in the beds? Or what, if anything, do you use?

We don't use those speaker things, but they do use them in other units where O2 is in use. For the older kids we get CD players and classical music and/or lullaby CDs from the child life department.

Specializes in NICU.

Parents can bring in whatever they want, and we've had iPods withspeaker docks before. Sometimes we have parents record themselves reading stories and play that. For the chronics Child Life will sometimes leave a toy that plays music. And oh, the mobiles. Bane of my attempts to sleep after I get home. That darn Mozart/Beethoven/Bach one makes me nuts.

Specializes in NICU.

We used to have CD players at every bedside if parents wanted to use them. Now they are able to bring in something, if they'd like to, but we no longer provide the means. My current primary's mom made a loop of her heartbeat with her and dad's voices in the background. Totally cool.

For the older kids, we have the crib toys and mobiles that play music.

Specializes in NICU.

We have the usual mobiles / crib toys for the chronics. Our parents can also bring in an ipod w/ speakers to play lullabies (or some other soothing music) for their baby in the isolette. We also have tapes / tape players available for us to use as well.

We also have a music therapist that meets w/ the parents every couple of weeks or so and helps them learn developmentally appropriate things to do with their baby. The music therapist can also come around (w/ parents permission of course) and sing / play music for some of the chronics.

Specializes in NICU.

We have a music therapy team that comes to the bedsides of appropriate infant. they attach ipods to their bedsides with lullabys etc. they also have a guitar and occasionally sing to the babies. Some of the older chronic kids love it!

Specializes in Cardiac Nursing.

I'm not a NICU nurse yet, but on the adult units I've worked...IF we even had music therapy and there was no guarantee the therapist was the one to do it. One place I worked did have one and she would let the staff know what was available so we could in turn inform the patients.

Is music therapy in NICU used the same as on an adult floor? Distraction/Pain Relief/Stress Relief? I would think it would be more for keep kiddo soothed correct?

Specializes in NICU.

It's also used because the NICU is not a great environment for beneficial stimulation for a developing baby. Unpleasant stim, sure, we've got plenty. But even totally neurologically intact children who spend a while in the NICU tend to be developmentally behind at discharge, simply because they're not getting the same amount of interaction with the world.

Specializes in Cardiac Nursing.
It's also used because the NICU is not a great environment for beneficial stimulation for a developing baby. Unpleasant stim, sure, we've got plenty. But even totally neurologically intact children who spend a while in the NICU tend to be developmentally behind at discharge, simply because they're not getting the same amount of interaction with the world.

OK, so its used more for development. Keeps the brain stimulated in a good way since there is not much other "active" stimulation for them to get.

Parents can bring in whatever they want, and we've had iPods withspeaker docks before. Sometimes we have parents record themselves reading stories and play that. For the chronics Child Life will sometimes leave a toy that plays music. And oh, the mobiles. Bane of my attempts to sleep after I get home. That darn Mozart/Beethoven/Bach one makes me nuts.

The one with the weird critters with crooked eyeballs? How babies fall asleep with that going on is a mystery.

Specializes in NICU.

Mobiles for preemies are actually frowned on, but they are fine for older chronics. In the last two years I gathered all the research on music therapy in the NICU that I could find, including a book used in college music therapy programs. The title is," Music Therapy for Premature and Newborn Infants. It is distributed by Barcelona Publishers, phone is 603-357-0236, web is http://www.barcelonapublishers.com. I got our program approved through the medical director and nurse manager. Listened to around 70 lullaby CD's, selected the best according to what the articles and book said were appropriate for different gestational ages. The infant's sats would increase as soon as the CD started. Parents loved it and each infant had his own equipment. As the infants aged nurses knew to expose them to different colored CD's from our CD library of over 150 copies. Yellow were for 24-30 weekers with very slow lullabies and heartbeats, pink had soothing female voices for up to term, and then blue had more elaborate music, male and female voices for term and over. All was fine till we hired a NICU consultant who spent 3 days observing in our unit and she said she didn't feel that there was enough EBP to support our program. So presently we are on hold!! If your unit happens to have the Mosby book, Developmental Care of Newborns and Infants - I ordered mine from Children's Medical Ventures- there are 5 pages of conflicting data on music therapy. What I find so frustrating is how we ignore how noisy, and I mean noxious noisy, phones ringing at bedsides, babies crying , staff loudly laughing and do nothing, and then crack down on something that appeared to work well. From what I read the womb is a noisy place and they learn language in the womb. The best research, but a small study, showed that playing a CD of momma's voice 5 times a day, showed a statistical difference in speech understanding at the age of 6.3 years. This research is in the Music Therapy book. I'd set up a study if I had support and the time cause this topic fascinates me. Hope this helps.

Specializes in Cardiac Nursing.
Mobiles for preemies are actually frowned on, but they are fine for older chronics. In the last two years I gathered all the research on music therapy in the NICU that I could find, including a book used in college music therapy programs. The title is," Music Therapy for Premature and Newborn Infants. It is distributed by Barcelona Publishers, phone is 603-357-0236, web is http://www.barcelonapublishers.com. I got our program approved through the medical director and nurse manager. Listened to around 70 lullaby CD's, selected the best according to what the articles and book said were appropriate for different gestational ages. The infant's sats would increase as soon as the CD started. Parents loved it and each infant had his own equipment. As the infants aged nurses knew to expose them to different colored CD's from our CD library of over 150 copies. Yellow were for 24-30 weekers with very slow lullabies and heartbeats, pink had soothing female voices for up to term, and then blue had more elaborate music, male and female voices for term and over. All was fine till we hired a NICU consultant who spent 3 days observing in our unit and she said she didn't feel that there was enough EBP to support our program. So presently we are on hold!! If your unit happens to have the Mosby book, Developmental Care of Newborns and Infants - I ordered mine from Children's Medical Ventures- there are 5 pages of conflicting data on music therapy. What I find so frustrating is how we ignore how noisy, and I mean noxious noisy, phones ringing at bedsides, babies crying , staff loudly laughing and do nothing, and then crack down on something that appeared to work well. From what I read the womb is a noisy place and they learn language in the womb. The best research, but a small study, showed that playing a CD of momma's voice 5 times a day, showed a statistical difference in speech understanding at the age of 6.3 years. This research is in the Music Therapy book. I'd set up a study if I had support and the time cause this topic fascinates me. Hope this helps.

Oh this is very interesting indeed. I wonder why the conflicting data? Why is it when a program seems to be working they place it hold because of what ONE person says instead of giving said program more time to prove itself.

Maybe you could apply for a research grant in order to fully research this. Just an idea. I know that nurses can get them, I just don't know how.

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