The Gift of Art and its Effect on Medical-Surgical Work Environment

This study was conducted between 2009-2013 at UF Health Shands Hospital, with the goal of determining the effects of an arts in medicine program and the consistent presence of a resident artist on a medical-surgical unit’s culture, quality of care, and nursing stress and satisfaction. 

Study Invesitgators: Jill Sonke, MA; Virginia Pesata, DNP, ARNP, NEA-BC, FNAP; Lauren Arce, MSN, RN; Ferol P. Carytsas, M.M.; Kristen Zemina; Christine Jokisch

Background: Arts in medicine programs have significant impacts on patients and staff in long-term care environments, but the literature lacks evidence of effectiveness on hospital units with shorter average lengths of stay.

Methods: The qualitative study used individual structured interviews to assess the impacts of arts programming on job satisfaction, stress, unit culture, support, quality of care, and patient outcomes on a short-term medical-surgical unit, and used a qualitative cross comparison grounded theory methodology to analyze data.

Results: The study confirmed that arts programming can positively affect unit culture, nursing practice, and quality of care on short-stay medical-surgical units. Significant insights related to nursing practice and the art program were found, including that music can cause negative distraction for staff.

Conclusions: While positive impacts of arts programming on the medical-surgical environment are clear, potential negative effects also need to be considered in the development of practice protocols for artists.

Click here to read the full study article, published in Arts & Health: A Journal for Research, Policy and Practice, January 2015.