An associate professor of nursing at the University of Maine at Fort Kent believes it can. She presented her preliminary results at the 19th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society in Atlanta in early November 2000. Nondrug methods relax patients and reduce stress during a procedure where patients are typically worried and tense. Through earphones, patients hear a calm voice encourage them to relax by suggesting they think of something pleasant.
Patients also have a choice of listening to soft piano or synthesizer.
Albert says her 15 years of ER nursing experience has made her realize how much this calming and distracting intervention is needed to ease patient anxiety and pain. She says her research is linked to the work of Marion Good, PhD, an associate professor and Albert's dissertation chair at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Research has shown that this happens fairly quickly after an injury. It's hoped that patients will feel calmer and will hurt less during the painful procedure of laceration repair.