Addressing Occupational Stress in Emergency and Critical Care Nurses: A Systematic Review of Aromatherapy and Music Therapy

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-770-5_20How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Aromatherapy; Music Therapy; Occupational Stress; Burnout; Emergency Nurses; Critical Care Nurses

Abstract

Emergency and critical care nurses frequently face stressful work environments, emotional strain, and demanding clinical duties, leading to high occupational stress levels and increased anxiety and burnout in this population. Non-pharmacological interventions like music therapy and aromatherapy have gained attention as means of promoting the psychological well-being of health practitioners. This systematic review will synthesize the evidence on the efficacy of music therapy, aromatherapy, and complementary interventions in reducing occupational stress and related psychological outcomes among emergency and critical care nurses. A systematic review of the literature will be conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A search of 5 electronic databases will be carried out for peer-reviewed papers published from January 2019 to December 2025. The eligible studies include quantitative articles studying the effect of music therapy, aromatherapy, and combined interventions among emergency and critical care nurses. Data will be extracted and synthesized narratively. In total, 15 articles meet the inclusion criteria: four randomized controlled trials, three quasi-experimental studies, two placebo-controlled trials, and six observational studies. Majority of the studies showed positive changes in occupational stress, anxiety, and burnout following aromatherapy-based and music interventions.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Rustiana Tasya Ariningpraja
AU  - Rozi Buana
AU  - Sadikun Sadikun
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - Addressing Occupational Stress in Emergency and Critical Care Nurses: A Systematic Review of Aromatherapy and Music Therapy
BT  - Proceedings of the 6th International Nursing and Health Sciences Symposium (INHSS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 192
EP  - 206
SN  - 2468-5739
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-770-5_20
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-770-5_20
ID  - Ariningpraja2026
ER  -