Live music in the intensive care unit–a beautiful experience

Background: The growing number of lightly or non-sedated patients who are critically ill means that more patients experience the noisy and stressful environment. Live music may create positive and meaningful moments. Purpose: To explore non-sedated patients’ experiences of patient-tailored live music interventions in the intensive care unit. Design: A qualitative study using a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. Data were collected at two intensive care units from September 2019 to February 2020 exploring 18 live music interventions performed by music students from The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark. Methods: Observations of live music interventions followed by patient interviews. All data together were analysed using Ricoeur’s theory of interpretation. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist was used. Results: Five themes emerged: 1) A break from everyday life, 2) A room with beautiful sounds and emotions, 3) Too tired to participate, 4) Knowing the music makes it meaningful and 5) A calm and beautiful moment. Conclusion: Patient-tailored live music to awake patients is both feasible and acceptable and perceived as a break from every-day life in the ICU. Implications for practice: Supporting health and well-being by bringing a humanizing resource into the intensive care setting for patients and nurses to enjoy.