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Background: Although music therapy is now applied widely as an intervention for elderly dementia patients, the effectiveness of this therapy is not yet well understood., Purpose: This study conducts a systematic review of clinical studies that address the effectiveness of music therapy in elderly dementia patients., Methods: Databases including MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, ProQuest, EBMR, CINAHL, and CEPS were searched for relevant articles published between 2004 and 2013 using the key words "music" or "music therapy" with "dementia". An initial 272 original articles were identified. Applying inclusion criteria and excluding duplications left 18 articles that used randomized controlled trials to assess the effectiveness of music therapy in elderly participants for further analysis and synthesis., Results: Music therapy was found effective at improving cognitive functions, mental symptoms, and eating problems. However, this therapy was not found effective at improving irritable behavior. Type of music and method of presentation were the most important factors affecting results. Most studies (61.1%) used songs familiar to ÷ favored by the participants; most studies delivered 30-minute interventions twice weekly; and most studies used a therapy duration of 6 hours. Finally, most studies (77.8%) had music therapy sessions performed by either music therapists or trained healthcare providers., Conclusions / Implications for Practice: This study supports that music therapy is an effective nursing intervention for elderly dementia patients. The authors hope that findings are a helpful reference for clinical nurses to develop practical music therapy procedures and protocols.

Background: The professional nursing clinical ladder program can effectively enhance the professional morale of nursing staff and help retain the best senior nurses in clinical settings. Hence, it is important to explore factors that influence nurse staff intentions to participate in the clinical ladder., Purpose: This study examined factors that affect nurse staff intention to participate in the N3 nurse clinical ladder program., Methods: We used a cross sectional study design and a structured questionnaire survey. We employed purposive sampling to recruit 389 nurse staffs qualified for promotion to the N3 level from a medical center in southern Taiwan., Results: Findings showed: (1) Nearly two-thirds (233, 59.9%) of participants intended to participate in clinical ladder; (2) The factors of age, years of nursing experience, years in current position, project/research experience, promotion experience, and intention all significantly affected intent to participate in the ladder; (3) A significant difference between willingness to participate in the ladder program and each of the following variables--motivation, satisfaction, professional capacity, and sense of achievement; (4) Logistic regression analysis identified only motivation as a valid predictor of willingness to participate the ladder program (95% CI: 1.21-3.78)., Conclusion/implications for Practice: Results provide a useful reference to nursing administrators for planning on-the-job training and increasing nurse staff participation in the ladder. The authors hope results can help promote better human resource management and achievements.