Musical Morphine?

At my previous job as the Music Therapy Coordinator for a large hospital system, I was required to complete a sequence of leadership courses with all of the new managers system-wide.  I remember sitting next to one of the nursing executives and chatting with her during one of the breaks.  When I told her I was a music therapist, she acted surprised and asked me to explain exactly what I did.  Always eager to educate others about music therapy, I went into the many benefits for hospital patients including decrease anxiety and even decreasing the amount of medication needed to control pain.  The nurse looked at me and said "Hmm.  Very interesting, but no offense, if I'm in pain, I'll take the morphine."

I think about that comment often, especially now that I am a nurse in a hospital that strives to be "pain free."  We have good medications that we know can help to decrease pain. But pain control is complex and often unpredictable.  Take my Dad, for example.  Multiple Myeloma caused him to develop several compression fractures in his spine, a very painful condition.  Because of this, he takes multiple medications that work on different pain receptors to control the pain daily.  And many days, he still has pain.

 While music might not be a substitute for morphine, I do believe that it can be a very effective adjunct therapy for pain management.  I am currently applying to PhD programs in nursing, because I am hoping to study pediatric pain management and effective uses of these non-pharmacological strategies to enhance the effectiveness of medication.