Effects of progressive muscle relaxation combined with music on stress, fatigue, and coping styles among intensive care nurses.

AIM: To examine the effects of progressive muscle relaxation combined with music on stress, fatigue and coping styles amongst intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial of 56 nurses aged 18  years and older, with at least three months experience. The intervention group (n = 28) received a 20 minute session comprising progressive muscle relaxation combined with music for a total of eight weeks in the form of group sessions, while the control group (n = 28) received only a single-time face-to-face attention-matched education (20  minutes). The data collection tools were administered at baseline, at week four, eight and twelve. SETTING: Internal Medicine, Anaesthesia, and Coronary Intensive care Unit of a training and research hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome: Stress level. Secondary outcome: Fatigue severity and coping styles. RESULTS: Stress scores in the intervention group decreased significantly at week 8 and week 12 (p < 0.05). Similarly, the fatigue scores were observed to be significantly lower in the intervention group at week 8 and week 12 in comparison to those in the control group (p < 0.05). The scores of coping styles, obtained for the acceptance sub-dimension were significantly higher in the intervention group compared to the control group at week 4, 8, and 12 (p < 0.05). The use of instrumental support, venting and the emotional support scores were observed to be significantly higher in the intervention group compared to the control group at week 12 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results indicated that progressive muscle relaxation combined with music appears to be effective in decreasing stress and fatigue, and in improving the coping styles amongst intensive care nurses. Future studies should be conducted on a larger scale to make conclusions with higher probability.