Preoperative Music to Decrease Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Gastrointestinal Procedures

Abstract

Problem & Purpose: Anxiety is an emotional state characterized by feelings of nervousness and worry that affect 85% of patients undergoing surgery and general anesthesia. Anxious patients have reported more postoperative pain, which leads to an increase in the use of analgesics, risk of infection, duration of hospitalization, and delayed wound healing. The anesthesia providers at the practice site anecdotally estimated that 80% of patients scheduled for gastrointestinal (GI) procedures are anxious. The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to implement the preoperative use of music to reduce anxiety in adult patients undergoing GI procedures. Methods: This QI project was implemented from September 7th to December 31st of 2021. Approximately 15 registered nurses (RNs) and 43 certified nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) and anesthesiologists were included in this project. The providers were educated on the benefits of preoperative music to reduce anxiety and offered music to patients that met the inclusion criteria (age > 18, patients’ consent, etc.) Provider compliance was collected weekly and reasons for noncompliance were assessed and addressed. Results: In the first seven weeks of data collection, 18.5% of patients admitted to the GI suite were offered music. After including student registered nurse anesthetists in the project, the average percentage of patients offered music increased from 18.5% to 41.5% for the last four weeks of the project. Conclusions: Listening to music is effective for reducing the anxiety of preoperative patients; most especially, in patients scheduled for endoscopies and colonoscopies in which anxiolytics are typically not offered. The project demonstrated that patients are enthusiastic about being offered music and are willing to implement the intervention.This project also highlighted providers’ compliance with offering music to patients in the GI suite to reduce anxiety.