Patients perceive the intensive care unit (ICU) as being a stressful and anxiety-provoking
environment. The physiological effects of stress and anxiety are found to be harmful and
therefore should be avoided in cardiac surgery patients. The aim of the study on which this
article is based was to describe cardiac surgery patients’ experiences of music as a therapeutic
intervention in the ICU of a public hospital. The objectives of this article were to introduce
and then expose the cardiac patients to music as part of their routine postoperative care and to
explore and describe their experiences of the music intervention. The findings of the research
are to be the basis for making recommendations for the inclusion of music as part of the routine
postoperative care received by cardiac surgery patients in the ICU. A qualitative research
methodology, using a contextual, explorative and descriptive research design, was adopted.
The population of the study was cardiac surgery patients admitted to the ICU of a public
hospital. An unstructured interview was conducted with each participant and content analysis
and coding procedures were used to analyse the data. Four main themes were identified
in the results, namely practical and operational aspects of the music sessions; participants’
experiences; discomfort due to therapeutic apparatus and the ICU environment; and the role of
music and recommendations for music as a therapeutic intervention. Participants’ experiences
were mainly positive. Results focused on experiences of the music and also on the participants’
experiences of the operational aspects of the therapy, as well as factors within and around the
participants.
Pasiënte se persepsie van die intensiewesorgeenheid (ISE) is dat dit ’n stresvolle en
angswekkende omgewing is. Die fisiologiese effekte van stres en angs is skadelik en daarom
moet dit vermy word in die geval van pasiënte wat hartchirurgie ondergaan. Die doel van
die studie waarop hierdie artikel gebaseer is, was om hartchirurgiepasiënte se ervaring
van musiek as ’n terapeutiese intervensie in die ISE van ’n openbare hospitaal te beskryf.
Die doelwitte van hierdie studie was om hartchirurgiepasiënte bekend te stel aan musiek as
deel van hul roetine- postoperatiewe sorg en hulle dan daaraan bloot te stel om sodoende
hulle ervarings van die musiekintervensie te ondersoek en beskryf. Die bevindinge van
die navorsing sal gebruik word om aanbevelings te maak vir die insluiting van musiek as
deel van die roetine- postoperatiewe sorg wat hartchirurgiepasiënte in die ISE ontvang. ’n
Kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetodologie, met behulp van ’n kontekstuele, verkennende en
beskrywende ontwerp, is gebruik. Die populasie van die studie was hartchirurgiepasiënte
in die ISE van ’n openbare hospitaal. ’n Ongestruktureerde onderhoud is met elke deelnemer
gevoer en inhoud-analise en koderingprosedures is gebruik om die data te ontleed. Vier
hooftemas is in die resultate geïdentifiseer, naamlik praktiese en operasionele aspekte van die
musieksessies; die deelnemers se ervarings; ongemak as gevolg van terapeutiese apparaat en
die ISE-omgewing; asook die rol van musiek en aanbevelings vir musiek as ’n terapeutiese
intervensie. Deelnemers se ervarings was hoofsaaklik positief. Die resultate het gefokus op die
deelnemers se ervaring van die musiek asook hul ervaring van die operasionele aspekte van
die terapie, sowel as faktore binne en rondom die deelnemers.
