Pain has been identified as the one of the most common reason of seeking health care service by the consumers. As defined by Spencer & Burke, (2011) pain is associated with actual or potential damage that leads to unpleasant emotional and sensory experience. On the other hand, pain could arise due to the effect of any disease, diagnostic test and treatment as well. For example, patient with survivorship of cancer has been found to live with chronic pain. Another example, includes the patient with sickle cell disease (Kwok & Bhuvanakrishna, 2014). Fabian et al., (2011) has reported that patients with chronic pain may suffer from stigmas due to the analgesic doses that are required to manage pain. In addition, in the ever changing society the cultural influence on pain cannot be ignored. For example the pain associated with end of life or death is shaped by the cultural beliefs of individual. Such experience of pain impact on the daily activity, work and relationship as well (Campbell & Edwards, 2012). Hence it is important to understand the factors associated with pain to identify different aspects of pain management. This assignment aims to identify the impact of culture on the perception, response and management of pain. In this regards, Punjabi culture has been selected for research and to discuss about the cultural influence on pain and its management.
As defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain, pain is an unpleasant physical and emotional sensation (iasp-pain.org, 2018). On the other hand Campbell & Edwards, (2012) has described that pain is one of the most common incident for which people seek health care service and it affects both the physical and psychological health of individual. Furthermore, Spencer & Burke, (2011) has described that pain is considered as both the unpleasant physical sensation caused by disease or injury and emotional suffering due to mental distress. Hence, the all of the discussed definition of pain has highlighted that the experience of pain is not just a triggering response to damage but also associated with emotional aspect of individual. The physical pain may be occur due to physical damage such as injury. In addition, various disease, diagnosis and treatment are also responsible for the consequence of pain. For example, disease such as tumour and cancer could lead to the consequence of nerve pain. On the other hand, treatment of cancer such as chemotherapy is also associated with pain. Such physical pain can be classified into two categories such as acute pain and chronic pain (Fabian et al., 2011). Acute pain is directly associated with damage of tissue and it remains for less than 3 months or pain that is associated with soft tissue damage. Such acute pain can be treated with analgesic or relaxation technique and other medical management (Gélinas et al., 2017). Whereas chronic pain is more sharp and severe and it remains for more than 3 to 6 months which may impact on the daily activity and mental health of individual. It is important to access treatment for acute pain otherwise, untreated acute pain may increase the risk of suffering from chronic pain. Treatment of chronic pain needs more attention and specific medical approaches such as special therapies (Spencer & Burke, 2011). On the other hand the emotional nature of pain may associated with situation such as end of life or death of loved ones and relatives (Kwok & Bhuvanakrishna, 2014). Further, it has been found that, physical pain is also linked with emotional aspects. For example, Campbell & Edwards, (2012) have informed that prolong suffering from pain may results in depression and anxiety, in contrast, suffering from mental distress may increase the healing time.
Multidimensional constructs of pain has been identified which indicated that, besides physical and psychological aspects, a relationship between perception of pain and pain management and ethnicity is also present (Kwok & Bhuvanakrishna, 2014). The perception regarding pain is shaped by the cultural background of individual and the impact of culture on pain varies according to ethnicity and demography. For example, the systematic review of Fabian et al., (2011) has indicated that sensitivity to pain is greater for African Americans as compare to the Caucasians and higher level of pain and disability is also identified for African Americans as compare to the Caucasians. Such findings has indicated the possible relationship between ethnicity and pain with evidence. Additionally, one’s way to cope up with pain is also influenced by his/her cultural and ethnic factors. For example, using turmeric in order to relief pain is also associated with cultural belief of Asian population (Campbell & Edwards, 2012). Furthermore, pain management is also influenced by cultural and ethical background as well. For example, Spencer & Burke, (2011) have demonstrated in their study that, in Arabic heritage, pain is expressed to the family members but not to the health professionals which creates conflict regarding the perceptions about the pain relief of the patient. In addition, they prefer same sex care giver in order to reduce the cultural discomfort. In comparison, the people belonging to Mexican heritage believes on visual pain assessment and bilingual scale assessment.
Culture is associated with the way in which people experienced, perceived and expressed mental distress, physical problems, social issues and emotions, hence, the perception and response to pain is also influenced by the cultural background of individual. Due to such difference in cultural perception of pain, the response of people to analgesia is also differs according to demography and culture (Kwok & Bhuvanakrishna, 2014). It has been identified by Spencer & Burke, (2011) people from some culture could not accept the incident of facing death with drug induced cognitive impairment, on the other hand some people wish to get rid of pain at any cost. Many social or cultural groups exists that contain negative beliefs regarding analgesia as the way of dealing with death is identical for each cultural group (Campbell & Edwards, 2012). Spencer & Burke, (2011) also examined the different response to pain for different ethnic group and represented as evidence for the cultural influence on perception and response of pain. For example, the Jewish heritage accepts the verbalization of pain and belief that it is required to identify the reason of pain to identify the way to obtain relief. In contrast, the African American heritage considers pain as a sign of illness and believes that to develop high tolerance to pain suffering should be endured.
It is not always necessary for a nursing professional to accept the belief of the patient while providing care, however, it is important to treat individual as unique being and respect their culture and dignity. On the other hand, the culture, ethnicity and personal perception of a nurse may influence the treatment process, hence, it is required to develop self-awareness regarding one’s culture (Kwok & Bhuvanakrishna, 2014). Spencer & Burke, (2011) has described that it is important to introduce self-examination to explore our personal bias, prejudices and perceptions regarding an individual belongs to different cultural background in order to develop cultural awareness. Personal bias of a nurse may impact on the patient’s perception of pain, hence, it is required to remain conscious about own perception while service for a particular patient with different cultural background (Campbell & Edwards, 2012). The ability of nurse to understand the different cultural aspects of pain and difference in response would help to introduce effective intervention which could shape the perception of a patient about pain. For example, if a person is showing non-verbal cues to pain but denying it, the nurse should re-evaluate the pan management approach (Spencer & Burke, 2011). Such effort could change the perception of patient regarding pain and could lead to positive health outcomes.
In order to describe the impact of ethnicity and culture on pain, the ethnic group such as Punjabi (Hindu heritage) has been chosen for this particular assignment. According to Spencer & Burke, (2011) the people of Hindu heritage do not exhibits specific signs and symptoms of pain and they mainly depend on folk medicine and out of the counter medicines for management of pain and assessment of non-verbal signs of pain is appropriate for such ethnic group. There are various verbal signs of pain such as positive response of the patient to the pain and acceptance of pain after asking the patient during the use of pain assessment scale. However, as the Punjabi ethnic group belongs to Hindu heritage, the research of these authors has indicated that non-verbal cues such as facial grimacing, shifting in bed, restlessness, agitation, frown, guarding the area of pain and becoming tense could be better option to assess the patients from this ethnic group (Kwok & Bhuvanakrishna, 2014). Such approaches of pain assessment would help to consider the cultural influence and minimize the cultural discomfort during treatment or pain assessment in an effective manner.
As mentioned earlier, the Punjabi ethnic group belongs to Hindu heritage and they do not exhibit the signs of pain. Hence, a verbal rating scale would not be beneficial for this ethnic group (Spencer & Burke, 2011). Due to such reason it would be better to use a pain assessment tool that is effective to detect pain through non-verbal cues. For example, picture or face scale could be an appropriate choice for this ethnic group as it detects pain based on the drawings of facial expression and defines the level of pain that a person is experiencing. Further, behavioural measurement tool would be another option that detect pain through the evaluation of visible signs and discomfort of the patient (Gélinas et al., 2017). Such assessments tools are effective in order to identify the non-verbal signs of a patient with pain and understand the level of pain. Effective assessment would help to introduce appropriate treatment for a particular patient.
According to Spencer & Burke, (2011) the cultural background of the people belongs to Punjabi ethnic group allows them to use traditional and folk medicines to reduce pain. Focusing on the culturally safe nursing care and person centred care it would be better to utilise traditional process to deal with a patient with pain from this ethnic background, as it would be acceptable for them (Fabian et al., 2011). However, effective pharmacological treatment need to be provided according to the severity of the pain and the patient needs to be educated about the effectiveness and importance of pharmacological treatment before the implementation of the intervention (Spencer & Burke, 2011). Further, interprofessional nursing approach needs to be consider in order to analyse the patient’s condition from multidimensional construction (Fabian et al., 2011). Such pain management approach would be beneficial and culturally safe as well for a patient belongs to Punjabi ethnic group.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that, pain is associated with both the physical discomfort and emotional distress. Pain may be associated with physical damage and some disease, diagnosis and treatment. On the other hand, prolong suffering from physical discomfort may lead to mental distress, in contrast psychological suffering could increase the healing time. Additionally, the emotional pain associated with end of life could not be ignored. Evidence has supported the relation between ethnicity and pain. It has been demonstrated that cultural influence responsible for the development of personal perception regarding pain and its response. Hence the nurse should remain aware of personal bias and cultural influence and provide care approach while understanding the personal beliefs of individual. It would help to provide culturally safe nursing management of pain.
References
Campbell, C. M., & Edwards, R. R. (2012). Ethnic differences in pain and pain management. Pain management, 2(3), 219-230.
Fabian, L., McGuire, L., Goodin, B., & Edwards, R. (2011). Ethnicity, Catastrophizing, and Qualities of the Pain Experience. Pain Medicine, 12, 314-321.
Gélinas, C., Puntillo, K. A., Levin, P., & Azoulay, E. (2017). The Behavior Pain Assessment Tool for critically ill adults: a validation study in 28 countries. Pain, 158(5), 811-821.
iasp-pain.org (2018). International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). Retrieved from https://www.iasp-pain.org
Kwok, W., & Bhuvanakrishna, T. (2014). The relationship between ethnicity and the pain experience of cancer patients: a systematic review. Indian journal of palliative care, 20(3), 194.
Spencer, C., & Burke, P. (2011). The impact of culture on pain management. Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses newsletter, 20(4), 1.
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