Role of Music Intervention on Professional Quality of Life and Work Stress: An Experimental Investigations

Abstract

Stress and burnout are quite synonymous with the fast-paced work environment of nurses. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the effect of music therapy on perceived stress and professional quality of life (burnout, secondary traumatic stress, compassion satisfaction) among them. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire from a sample of 41 nurses working in a private multi-speciality hospital, in Hyderabad, India. The hypotheses were tested using paired sample t-tests. Perceived stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (Sheldon Cohen). Burnout, Secondary stress, and Compassion Satisfaction were measured by the Professional Quality of Life scale - ProQOL5. Nurses in the experimental group were given live group music therapy in the form of group drumming improvisation for 30 mins followed by directed imagery and music for relaxation for a duration of 15 mins. The script of the imagery was chosen to be generic and safe for everyone to evoke positive and pleasant experiences. The music used for music and imagery was live raga improvisation in the Raga Brindavani Sarang. The findings showed that perceived stress, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress significantly decreased in the experimental group, confirming the positive effect of music therapy on an organizational sample such as nurses. The current research suggests how music and music therapy can be used as a tool for enhancing and maintaining well-being at the workplace. Implications of this study can be extended to see the effects of music therapy with an increased number of sessions and on other organizational samples like doctors, other medical staff, and technicians. Although the study's findings reveal the positive impact of music therapy with nurses, it cannot be generalized to all nurses in India, since the results and sampling area is limited to the hospital where the study was conducted in Hyderabad, India