The Lived Experience of Listening to Music While Recovering from Surgery

Abstract

Music has been shown to have positive physiological and psychological effects on patients in previous studies. In this study, the authors looked at the lived experience of listening to music and evaluated findings from a phenomenological perspective. Specifically, the authors described the following three themes that emerged from interview data with 8 participants who listened to music during postoperative recovery: (a) comfort from a discomforting condition, (b) familiarity in a strange environment, and (c) distraction from fear, pain, and anxiety. In addition, implications for the use of music by nurses are discussed.