The effect of nature-based sound therapy on shortening length of mechanical ventilation in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery patients during the weaning from mechanical ventilation

Weaning from mechanical ventilation is a frequent nursing activity in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Nature-based sound as a non-pharmacological method was effective in alleviating anxiety and agitation in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of nature-based sound on shortening length of weaning from mechanical ventilation time in patients undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery. This is a quasi-experimental study in which 120 patients undergoing CABG surgery had participated. These patients were undergoing weaning from mechanical ventilator; they were randomly divided into two intervention and control groups of 60 subjects. The study was done in 2013. The intervention group listened to nature-based sounds through headphones، immediately after the first trigger، they listened to the sound at 20 min intervals until extubation. Data was collected until twenty three minutes after extubation too. Patients of the control group had headphones with no sound. Data collection tools included a demographic- medical questionnaire and a researcher-made data recording sheet. Data analysis was done through descriptive and inferential statistical methods including independent t-test، chi-square and Fisher''s exact test by using SPSS 16 software. Findings showed that the intervention group had significantly lower length of mechanical ventilation time than the control group (P<0. 001). The results showed that nature-based sound as a non-pharmacological treatment can be effective in shortening length of weaning from mechanical ventilation time and it can be helpful in this process. Since it’s a safe، easy and inexpensive method and it has no complications، it can be used besides other non-pharmacological methods in shortening duration of patients’ weaning from mechanical ventilation in ICU.