The effects of music listening on psychosocial stress and maternal-fetal attachment during pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: While music listening has been studied as an intervention to help reduce anxiety in pregnant women, few studies have explored the effect of music listening on pregnancy-specific stress relief. This study examines the effects of music listening on psychosocial stress and maternal-fetal attachment during pregnancy. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial was implemented. A valid sample of 296 pregnant women in their second or third trimester was randomly distributed into an experimental group (n=145) and a control group (n=151). INTERVENTIONS: The experimental group received routine prenatal care and music listening. The control group received routine prenatal care only. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Data were collected using a demographic form, Pregnancy Stress Rating Scale (PSRS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (MFAS). RESULTS: The post-test results identified a significantly lower level of psychosocial stress in the experimental group than in the control group, particularly in terms of the stresses related to baby care and changing family relationships and to maternal role identification. However, no statistically significant differences in terms of perceived stress and maternal-fetal attachment were found between the post-test results of the two groups. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence in support of using of music in interventions designed to relieve psychosocial stress in prenatal women. IRB approval number: ER98223.

[Non-invasive therapeutics in female urinary incontinence by extracorporeal magnetic innervation (ExMI)].

The prevalence of female urinary incontinence (UI) in Taiwan is 19~35% and the condition has a psychosocial impact. It is important to prevent UI and to treat it when it does occur. It is an intractable symptom which is not very responsive to medicine or surgery, although in the past, these were the most common options for treating it. The alternatives include pelvic floor muscle exercises, vaginal cone weight training, functional electrical stimulation and biofeedback. The effectiveness of these methods depends on the patient's motivation and compliance, as well as on health care providers' encouragement. However, the Extracorporeal Magnetic Innervation (ExMI) is simple and easy to use and therefore enhances participants' motivation and compliance. The authors review the relevant literature and describe the development of the revolutionary new treatment and discuss its effectiveness concluding that its clinical effectiveness needs further evaluation.

Nurses' beliefs and values about doing cue-based care in an NICU in Taiwan.

Although advances in medical technology have increased the survival rate of preterm infants, science is no cure-all for these high-risk patients. A growing number of studies report that caregiving interventions cause physiological and behavioral distress in such infants. The results have prompted changes in caregiving practices, attempting to reduce stress and strengthen protection for the infants, in order to promote their stability and development in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) . This study uses qualitative research methods to grasp the richness and diversity of nurses' beliefs and experience in the taking care of preterm infants. Ten groups of questions explore how NICU nurses take care of premature infants, nurses' perspectives on cue-based care, and the extent to which NICU nurses practice cue-based care. The results generated three themes: (1) timely and skillful management of the preterm infants; (2) compassionate and holistic care for the infants and their highly stressed families; and (3) the relationship between good nursing care and meeting the needs of preterm infants, families, physicians, units, and the environment. It is apparent that the approach to care delivery in NICU practice is still clinical-based, and that there are some obstacles to the delivery of cue-based care. The reasons for this include lack of knowledge, incomplete collaboration with team members, and insufficient support from the administrative systems. To improve the quality of nursing care and preterm infant outcomes, it will be necessary to educate NICU nurses on cue-based care, to enhance collaboration among all team members, to reduce their non-nursing workload, and to re-design NICUs for optimal cue-based care.