Spinning lullabies in ICU

I'm going on my 10th year of playing therapeutic music for patients at a hospital and I just love it. In particular I love to play for patients in ICU. I was there today and played for patients who were in very critical condition. All of them were unable to speak (trache in throat) and hooked up with so many tubes and wires. Most of them were in a deep sleep or in a coma. I do know they can hear me. I know this also by watching the heart monitors. I'll tell you some about what I do.

Firstly, I never play what would be considered familiar music to them. When someone is so ill and unable to communicate,  I cannot risk sparking an unpleasant memory. It's happened to all of us. Haven't you ever been somewhere and suddenly an old song from the past comes on the radio and suddenly we are transported to an old, unresolved memory. We each have a soundtrack that accompanied both our best but also our worst memories. So that is why I don't play anything that could awaken a dark time because these patients need hope, comfort, calming.

So what I do is I improvise for them.  Today for instance I was playing for one patient and the nurse came in and said, "Play soft. If her blood pressure rises, then stop."   So I started playing a chord progression in the key of E because those are lower tones which are more restful, while higher pitches are stimulating. I was weaving melodies in a slow 3/4 time like a lullaby or a waltz. I watched her slowly breathing and I worked to match her rhythm.  It's all very scientific. Music is rhythm, just like our hearts that beat in rhythm. I play music in a slow rhythm to help the patient "entrain" to my slow, steady rhythm, to help stabilize their pulse.  If I see the monitor numbers rise, I back way off and play more quietly, more slowly.

It is very calming for me too. I often feel in such a zone, I have to consciously be sure I am staying alert to the patient's needs and shift my musical prescription according to their current symptoms.

When I am done playing I sit in the silence and send them positive thoughts and wish them peace and healing. I thank them for letting me play (aloud) for I do know they can hear me. It is such an honor to do this work.

I post the picture with the 5 Regrets of the Dying because each time I go to the hospital, I am confronted with people who may not go home. It has been good for me to always be reminded of what is most important in life.