Comparative Effects of Music Therapy Versus White Noise on Sleep Quality and Psychological Resilience of Night-Shift Nurses: Retrospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to compare the therapeutic effects of music therapy and white noise on sleep quality and psychological resilience enhancement in night-shift nurses.

METHODS

A quasi-experimental retrospective analysis was performed on 100 night-shift nurses enrolled in hospital-based health management programs between April 2024 and April 2025. The participants were categorised by program type: the music group (n = 52) received music-based care from April 2024 to September 2024, and the white noise group (n = 48) underwent white noise exposure from October 2024 to April 2025. The following were assessed before the program and at 4-week post-implementation: sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), circadian flexibility (Circadian Type Inventory-11 [CTI-11] with Flexibility/Rigidity [FR] and Languidness/Vigorousness [LV] subscales), psychological resilience (10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale [CD-RISC-10]), occupational burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey [MBI-GS]) and emotional labour management (Emotional Labor Scale [ELS]). An independent sample t-test was used to compare the differences between groups, and the effect size of the differences was quantified by Cohen's d.

RESULTS

At 4-week post-implementation, the white noise group demonstrated significantly lower PSQI scores (P < 0.05), CTI-11 LV subscale scores (P < 0.05), CD-RISC-10 scores (P < 0.05) and diminished genuine emotion expression dimension scores on the ELS (P < 0.05) compared with the music group. Conversely, the white noise group had significantly higher CTI-11 FR subscale scores (P < 0.05), MBI-GS scores (P < 0.05) and surface acting plus deep acting dimension scores on the ELS (P < 0.05) compared with the music group.

CONCLUSION

Music therapy and white noise exposure effectively enhance sleep quality, circadian adaptability, psychological resilience, occupational burnout recovery and emotional labour regulation in night-shift nurses. White noise demonstrates greater efficacy for sleep quality and circadian rhythm optimisation. Music therapy provides superior psychological resilience enhancement, burnout reduction and emotional labour management.