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Effective Measures Toward Pain Management, comment

July 15, 2010

Nurses as caregivers in primary, secondary and tertiary roles play an important part in caring for patients experiencing pain. While assessing pain as nurses, we need to collect a substantial amount of subjective data in order to properly address a patients level of discomfort.  Because pain is influenced by a variety of factors such as culture, chronic verses acute pain, sleep deprivation, individual thresholds and other sensory stimuli, one of the best measures of pain is to pain is what the!?? patient tells you it is.  Visual cues as well as vital signs should be gathered in the assessment to support the patients complaint of pain.  Patients will often compare their pain to other pain they have experienced before, for example.  Documenting the description of pain and initiating a scale by which to continue to assess the relief of pain through medication and other means of providing comfort is the most effective way to ensure relief.  Patients may respond to certain interventions better than others.  If a medication is ineffective in relieving pain, the physician should be notified and the patient should be assessed for another type of analgesic.  The nurses role as an advocate to the patient should always be at the forefront when addressing a patients need for relief from varying degrees of discomfort.  By knowing your patients individual pain thoroughly from assessment nurses are in a position to help decrease and or alleviate suffering early on in intervention.

Original Post

July 12, 2010

Title: Effective Measures Toward Pain Management, comment

Nursing assessment plays a significant role in the management of pain in caring for a patient.  Pain being a very subjective area to measure you can not only take the subjective level of pain you must also take into account the objective level of pain observed.  The level of pain is a grey area; it is not as simple as being in pain or not being in pain.  There are different levels to the pain and this varies from patient to patient.  Each patient has their own level of pain tolerance.  For example; in the practice I work in now we use a NIBP to measure the patients’ blood pressure in which most patients are not affected by this instrument.  However there are some patients that cannot tolerate the NIBP, it is too painful for them to use to measure their blood pressure; these patients have a lower threshold for pain.  They experience pain in a different way, however their pain is real.  As a nurse you need to be alert and conscious of each patient’s pain threshold.

An accurate pain assessment holds such an imperative function of a nurses advanced health assessment when caring for their patients.  When a nurse is functioning in the role of some area of forensic nursing their experience and knowledge of pain assessment may be called upon to use in their responsibility as a forensic nurse.  For example; if a forensic nurse is being called upon in the court of law to provide testimony in a legal matter they may have to incorporate this experience and knowledge of assessing pain to give an honest and accurate testimony.  Another example of pain assessment being incorporated into forensic nursing would be when a forensic nurse is assessing a possible victim of abuse; the victim may downplay their pain.  As a victim they may try to hide their pain and the forensic nurse will be required to be able to observe accurately any objective signs of pain to give the victim the care they need.

Original Post

September 2, 2009

Title: Effective Measures Toward Pain Management

Pain is an alteration in ones comfort level, which can significantly impact the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Pain is a subjective experience that can only be explained by the patient. Cultural and ethnicity are a few factors that influences patients response to pain, to improve outcomes nurses must be able to understand pain from a cultural perceptive. People respond to and view pain differently. Among various groups for various reasons emotions may or may not accompany pain it is viewed by some as an act of punishment or as a spiritual test. Having knowledge of patient’s views and how they define pain is very valuable in that it can assist the nurse in achieving positive outcomes by incorporating this information in the plan of care. Nurses who ignore or refuse to develop cultural sensitivity not only do they violate patients’ rights but also a chance of having a trustful relationship and without this you can expect poor outcomes. Pain is often poorly assessed and poorly managed due to reasons like misconceptions and nurses lack knowledge. This usually leads to under medications and poor outcomes, such as the post-op abdominal surgery patient that develop pneumonia because is unable to perform cough and deep breath exercises every 2hrs secondary to pain because of the nurses’ misconceptions about administering pain medication to a patient with history substance abuse. To achieve goals of effective pain management nurses must first be aware of their values and personal beliefs concerning pain and the behaviors associated with it, this will assist in developing an awareness and sensitivity to the patient’s need. Nurses must be knowledgeable and skilled in collection of both subjective and objective data (by accepting the patients’ assessment of pain by using pain assessment tools and observation of emotional behaviors such as crying or moaning), which will assist in identifying the intensity of patients’ pain and promote better outcomes. Misconceptions must be explored and addressed because these also impact outcomes, such as administering pain med on regular basis will lead to addiction or those who abuse drugs usually over exaggerate their pain, by acknowledging these misconceptions nurses will be able address patients’ pain related issues more professionally and improve steps toward effective pain management.

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Online Forensic Nursing certificate program
Online Nursing Assessment undergraduate education
Online Nursing Assessment graduate class

Posted in Cultural Sensitivity, Ethnic Sensitivity, Human Rights, Medication Error, Pain Management | 2 Comments »

Effective Measures Toward Pain Management, comment

July 12, 2010

Nursing assessment plays a significant role in the management of pain in caring for a patient.  Pain being a very subjective area to measure you can not only take the subjective level of pain you must also take into account the objective level of pain observed.  The level of pain is a grey area; it is not as simple as being in pain or not being in pain.  There are different levels to the pain and this varies from patient to patient.  Each patient has their own level of pain tolerance.  For example; in the practice I work in now we use a NIBP to measure the patients’ blood pressure in which most patients are not affected by this instrument.  However there are some patients that cannot tolerate the NIBP, it is too painful for them to use to measure their blood pressure; these patients have a lower threshold for pain.  They experience pain in a different way, however their pain is real.  As a nurse you need to be alert and conscious of each patient’s pain threshold.

An accurate pain assessment holds such an imperative function of a nurses advanced health assessment when caring for their patients.  When a nurse is functioning in the role of some area of forensic nursing their experience and knowledge of pain assessment may be called upon to use in their responsibility as a forensic nurse.  For example; if a forensic nurse is being called upon in the court of law to provide testimony in a legal matter they may have to incorporate this experience and knowledge of assessing pain to give an honest and accurate testimony.  Another example of pain assessment being incorporated into forensic nursing would be when a forensic nurse is assessing a possible victim of abuse; the victim may downplay their pain.  As a victim they may try to hide their pain and the forensic nurse will be required to be able to observe accurately any objective signs of pain to give the victim the care they need.

Original Post

September 2, 2009

Title: Effective Measures Toward Pain Management

Pain is an alteration in ones comfort level, which can significantly impact the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Pain is a subjective experience that can only be explained by the patient. Cultural and ethnicity are a few factors that influences patients response to pain, to improve outcomes nurses must be able to understand pain from a cultural perceptive. People respond to and view pain differently. Among various groups for various reasons emotions may or may not accompany pain it is viewed by some as an act of punishment or as a spiritual test. Having knowledge of patient’s views and how they define pain is very valuable in that it can assist the nurse in achieving positive outcomes by incorporating this information in the plan of care. Nurses who ignore or refuse to develop cultural sensitivity not only do they violate patients’ rights but also a chance of having a trustful relationship and without this you can expect poor outcomes. Pain is often poorly assessed and poorly managed due to reasons like misconceptions and nurses lack knowledge. This usually leads to under medications and poor outcomes, such as the post-op abdominal surgery patient that develop pneumonia because is unable to perform cough and deep breath exercises every 2hrs secondary to pain because of the nurses’ misconceptions about administering pain medication to a patient with history substance abuse. To achieve goals of effective pain management nurses must first be aware of their values and personal beliefs concerning pain and the behaviors associated with it, this will assist in developing an awareness and sensitivity to the patient’s need. Nurses must be knowledgeable and skilled in collection of both subjective and objective data (by accepting the patients’ assessment of pain by using pain assessment tools and observation of emotional behaviors such as crying or moaning), which will assist in identifying the intensity of patients’ pain and promote better outcomes. Misconceptions must be explored and addressed because these also impact outcomes, such as administering pain med on regular basis will lead to addiction or those who abuse drugs usually over exaggerate their pain, by acknowledging these misconceptions nurses will be able address patients’ pain related issues more professionally and improve steps toward effective pain management.

Online Forensic Nursing introduction course
Online Forensic Nursing certificate program
Online Nursing Assessment undergraduate education
Online Nursing Assessment graduate class

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Effective measures toward pain management, comment

April 6, 2010

Yes pain control is a very large part of our care in the ER. It is very frustrating for a busy ER nurse when you have a chronic pain patient on the call bell before the med is due and you are trying to run a code or even prevent one. Unfortunately there is no education for the chronic pain patients but we are suppose to stop what we are doing to wait on them. I think it needs to be understood by all the definition of triage!

Original Post
September 8, 2009
Title: Effective measures toward pain management
This post reminds us that the measurement of pain is primarily subjective. As providers, we must always remember that people respond to and express pain very differently. We must be culturally sensitive when assessing and treating pain. Pain is the 5th vital sign. Pain affects the physical and psychological well-being of our patients. It is our responsibility to ensure that our patients’ pain is being well managed. We must know our own biases and misconceptions and leave them at the door.

Original Post
September 2, 2009
Title: Effective measures toward Pain Management
Pain is an alteration in ones comfort level, which can significantly impact the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Pain is a subjective experience that can only be explained by the patient. Cultural and ethnicity are a few factors that influences patients response to pain, to improve outcomes nurses must be able to understand pain from a cultural perceptive. People respond to and view pain differently. Among various groups for various reasons emotions may or may not accompany pain it is viewed by some as an act of punishment or as a spiritual test. Having knowledge of patient’s views and how they define pain is very valuable in that it can assist the nurse in achieving positive outcomes by incorporating this information in the plan of care. Nurses who ignore or refuse to develop cultural sensitivity not only do they violate patients’ rights but also a chance of having a trustful relationship and without this you can expect poor outcomes. Pain is often poorly assessed and poorly managed due to reasons like misconceptions and nurses lack knowledge. This usually leads to under medications and poor outcomes, such as the post-op abdominal surgery patient that develop pneumonia because is unable to perform cough and deep breath exercises every 2hrs secondary to pain because of the nurses’ misconceptions about administering pain medication to a patient with history substance abuse. To achieve goals of effective pain management nurses must first be aware of their values and personal beliefs concerning pain and the behaviors associated with it, this will assist in developing an awareness and sensitivity to the patient’s need. Nurses must be knowledgeable and skilled in collection of both subjective and objective data (by accepting the patients’ assessment of pain by using pain assessment tools and observation of emotional behaviors such as crying or moaning), which will assist in identifying the intensity of patients’ pain and promote better outcomes. Misconceptions must be explored and addressed because these also impact outcomes, such as administering pain med on regular basis will lead to addiction or those who abuse drugs usually over exaggerate their pain, by acknowledging these misconceptions nurses will be able address patients’ pain related issues more professionally and improve steps toward effective pain management.

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Effective Measures Towards Pain Management, comment

March 24, 2010

According to JCAHO guidelines, accountability for pain management is shifted from the individual practitioner to the organization. Nurses are called to examine their own views and cultural beliefs regarding pain management and to rethink them if they are in conflict with their employer’s standard. Often patients complain of having to call frequently for medicine, having to wait unrealistic time frames for medicine and of receiving too little pain medicine or none at all. If pain assessment is truly "the fifth vital sign," then we must assess pain just as we would assess other vital signs – every few hours and prn. If the patient’s blood pressure were elevated, we would act on it. The same holds true for the pain assessment – we must act on it. When the patient becomes anxious and fearful that the pain will return, it complicates pain relief because of that anxiety and fear; therefore, at least initially, it is often necessary to give pain medication on a fixed schedule. Usually by the time the patient calls, they are already hurting and pain is more difficult to control. Two areas of self-assessment are important for the nurse to examine. The first is pain management in the drug addicted individual. Often nurses refer to individuals requiring frequent pain relief as "drug seeking." The patient who has a history of drug use will often require greater amounts of pain medicine. Drug abusers still have the intrinsic right to adequate pain management and the nurse must advocate for the patient, suppressing any personal feelings about drug abuse and knowing that drug abusers feel pain the same as (or sometimes more intensely than) any patient. While we must use discretion in our pain assessments, giving narcotics only when indicated, we are also morally obligated to do no harm, which includes withholding needed medicines. We must believe the subjective report of our patient and not withhold medications because we fear enabling the abuser. The other area needing self-awareness is in the care of the dying patient. Caregivers sometimes withhold opiods near the end of life because they do not want to give "the fatal dose." In the patient whose death is imminent it is inhumane to allow them to end their life in suffering when the nurse has the tools to provide the relaxation and peace experienced through the relief of pain. Death is something we all will face one day, and most of us fear dying. Hospice nurses assess the patient’s expectations of the dying experience upon admission, and most patients desire to be pain free when death occurs. When death is near, many patients cannot communicate the need for pain relief, so the nurse must be especially vigilant in attending to the patient’s needs.

Original Post
November 9, 2009
Title: Effective Measures Towards Pain Management, comment
Being culturally sensitive is paramount in the assessment and treatment of pain. It begins before any contact with the patient. It begins with self awareness of how the nurse views pain and the understanding that the nurse’s beliefs are formed by his/her own culture. By self actualization, a nurse is better prepared to interact more therapeutically in the patient’s behalf. The Joint Commission requires that a patient be assessed and reassessed ongoing to pain relief, taking into account the patient’s cultural, spiritual and ethnic beliefs. According to McCaffery (1999), pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever the experiencing person says it does. It is a combined phenomenon with sensory, emotional, cognitive and physical parameters. Pain assessment and pain relief however, may be different for every patient. Nurses should educate their patients and families to report the pain, and to expect relief. It is far more likely that a patient’s pain will be under treated due to withholding or inappropriate prescribing of opioids. The nurse should very familiar with the pain tools and use them consistently, taking into account cultural differences. The signs and systems of pain should be assessed carefully. The nurse should not second guess the patient or family and should not dismiss what is being said. They should also listen carefully to their patients and look for contributing factors. The nurse will want to ask the patient regarding their belief about pain and satisfaction with the current pain level. This information will direct the actions that the nurse will take, both pharmacologically and in providing comfort measures.

Original Post
September 8, 2009
Title: Effective measures toward pain management, comment
This post reminds us that the measurement of pain is primarily subjective. As providers, we must always remember that people respond to and express pain very differently. We must be culturally sensitive when assessing and treating pain. Pain is the 5th vital sign. Pain affects the physical and psychological well-being of our patients. It is our responsibility to ensure that our patients’ pain is being well managed. We must know our own biases and misconceptions and leave them at the door.

Original Post
September 2, 2009
Title: Effective measures toward Pain Management
Pain is an alteration in ones comfort level, which can significantly impact the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Pain is a subjective experience that can only be explained by the patient. Cultural and ethnicity are a few factors that influences patients response to pain, to improve outcomes nurses must be able to understand pain from a cultural perceptive. People respond to and view pain differently. Among various groups for various reasons emotions may or may not accompany pain it is viewed by some as an act of punishment or as a spiritual test. Having knowledge of patient’s views and how they define pain is very valuable in that it can assist the nurse in achieving positive outcomes by incorporating this information in the plan of care. Nurses who ignore or refuse to develop cultural sensitivity not only do they violate patients’ rights but also a chance of having a trustful relationship and without this you can expect poor outcomes. Pain is often poorly assessed and poorly managed due to reasons like misconceptions and nurses lack knowledge. This usually leads to under medications and poor outcomes, such as the post-op abdominal surgery patient that develop pneumonia because is unable to perform cough and deep breath exercises every 2hrs secondary to pain because of the nurses’ misconceptions about administering pain medication to a patient with history substance abuse. To achieve goals of effective pain management nurses must first be aware of their values and personal beliefs concerning pain and the behaviors associated with it, this will assist in developing an awareness and sensitivity to the patient’s need. Nurses must be knowledgeable and skilled in collection of both subjective and objective data (by accepting the patients’ assessment of pain by using pain assessment tools and observation of emotional behaviors such as crying or moaning), which will assist in identifying the intensity of patients’ pain and promote better outcomes. Misconceptions must be explored and addressed because these also impact outcomes, such as administering pain med on regular basis will lead to addiction or those who abuse drugs usually over exaggerate their pain, by acknowledging these misconceptions nurses will be able address patients’ pain related issues more professionally and improve steps toward effective pain management.

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Posted in Cultural Sensitivity, Ethnic Sensitivity, Human Rights, Medication Error | 1 Comment »

Child Abuse in Cultural Diversity Context, comment

December 24, 2009

This person’s comment greatly reminded me of a book I once read. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a book by Anne Fadiman which tells the story of a young Hmong girl who has epilepsy. The book capitalized on the importance of listening to the patient’s concerns and understanding conflicting cultures. In the Hmong culture seizures are seen as having a strong connection with the spirit world. For this reason, the girl’s family did not initially see the need to treat her condition. The book tells the sad but true story of how conflicting cultures and beliefs can affect how a person is treated. I think it is of the utmost importance to remember that although here in the United States we see our way of medicine as superior, other cultures have varying beliefs and customs which stray from our Western way of medicine. It is important for people in the medical field to take the time to understand a patient’s culture so as to be able to treat them better and make compromises when necessary. Through studying Pathology throughout this course it is amazing to me the knowledge which we have of medicine and the human body. It is important to take the time to understand different cultures to be able to apply our knowledge in a way which compliments their beliefs and cultures so as to be able to treat the patient successfully.

Original Post
October 15, 2009
Title: Child Abuse in Cultural Diversity Context, comment
Our hospital is located in one of the country’s largest immigration and refugee processing centers. To date, our language assistant coordinator has estimated over 30 different languages or dialects are currently being used throughout our local community. We had to change our Interpreter Policy a few years back following an incident that involved a child. A woman came into the ER with her thirteen year old daughter. She had severe abdominal pain, n/v, pelvic tenderness and was bleeding heavily. She did not speak or understand English. A call was placed to our language assistant coordinator, but it would be some time before assistance would arrive. Suspecting the woman was miscarrying, the doctors and nurses questioned the child -who did speak English as a secondary language. They asked pertinent medical questions in regards to their physical assessment findings. A few days later, our coordinator was contacted by a staff member from the local refugee center explaining that when the child went home that night she was severely beaten by her father. By discussing her mother’s personal medical history, the child had shamed the family. Her culture did not allow for children – certainly not females- to discuss topics that could be termed as sexual, regardless of the circumstances. The policy has since been updated and we can only gather information from a minor sixteen years old or older. We are to use children under 18 only in emergent situations. We need to be cognitive of the fact that even though we have rights and laws in our country – that once that front door closes at night, the laws and customs of the native country’s often prevail.

Original Post
June 4, 2009
Title: Child abuse in Cultural Diversity Context
While studying the chapter on cultural diversity, it made more sense to elaborate on some aspects of cultural diversity which still has a fine line between child abuse and cultural practice. One significant area is the right of African culture where parents make use of spanking as a means of corrective action or discipline. In Nigeria for instance, spanking takes the form of stroking with sticks, ruler or any linear object. Blending this tradition into the American context is another issue altogether. Law enforcement in America sees this type of traditional practice as child abuse and often send social services and child protective cases after parents. Many African families are in dilemma as to how to raise their children when it comes to drawing the line between discipline and child abuse. On observation so far, many families are forced to send their children back to Africa where the society upholds the saying "spare the rod and spoil the child". In recent social gatherings, African families are still debating over this controversy. They believe that the end result is better off if the parents spank the children rather than have the children sent to juvenile camps when their actions get criminal or turns into felonies. They often cite examples from the Bible as the foundation of wisdom and authority when it comes to raising responsible children in today’s society.

Child Abuse Neglect Attorney Lawyer

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Posted in Child Abuse & Neglect, Cultural Sensitivity, Ethnic Sensitivity | 5 Comments »

Effective Measures Towards Pain Management, comment

November 9, 2009

Being culturally sensitive is paramount in the assessment and treatment of pain. It begins before any contact with the patient. It begins with self awareness of how the nurse views pain and the understanding that the nurse’s beliefs are formed by his/her own culture. By self actualization, a nurse is better prepared to interact more therapeutically in the patient’s behalf. The Joint Commission requires that a patient be assessed and reassessed ongoing to pain relief, taking into account the patient’s cultural, spiritual and ethnic beliefs. According to McCaffery (1999), pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever the experiencing person says it does. It is a combined phenomenon with sensory, emotional, cognitive and physical parameters. Pain assessment and pain relief however, may be different for every patient. Nurses should educate their patients and families to report the pain, and to expect relief. It is far more likely that a patient’s pain will be under treated due to withholding or inappropriate prescribing of opioids. The nurse should very familiar with the pain tools and use them consistently, taking into account cultural differences. The signs and systems of pain should be assessed carefully. The nurse should not second guess the patient or family and should not dismiss what is being said. They should also listen carefully to their patients and look for contributing factors. The nurse will want to ask the patient regarding their belief about pain and satisfaction with the current pain level. This information will direct the actions that the nurse will take, both pharmacologically and in providing comfort measures.

Original Post
September 8, 2009
Title: Effective measures toward pain management, comment
This post reminds us that the measurement of pain is primarily subjective. As providers, we must always remember that people respond to and express pain very differently. We must be culturally sensitive when assessing and treating pain. Pain is the 5th vital sign. Pain affects the physical and psychological well-being of our patients. It is our responsibility to ensure that our patients’ pain is being well managed. We must know our own biases and misconceptions and leave them at the door.

Original Post
September 2, 2009
Title: Effective measures toward Pain Management
Pain is an alteration in ones comfort level, which can significantly impact the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Pain is a subjective experience that can only be explained by the patient. Cultural and ethnicity are a few factors that influences patients response to pain, to improve outcomes nurses must be able to understand pain from a cultural perceptive. People respond to and view pain differently. Among various groups for various reasons emotions may or may not accompany pain it is viewed by some as an act of punishment or as a spiritual test. Having knowledge of patient’s views and how they define pain is very valuable in that it can assist the nurse in achieving positive outcomes by incorporating this information in the plan of care. Nurses who ignore or refuse to develop cultural sensitivity not only do they violate patients’ rights but also a chance of having a trustful relationship and without this you can expect poor outcomes. Pain is often poorly assessed and poorly managed due to reasons like misconceptions and nurses lack knowledge. This usually leads to under medications and poor outcomes, such as the post-op abdominal surgery patient that develop pneumonia because is unable to perform cough and deep breath exercises every 2hrs secondary to pain because of the nurses’ misconceptions about administering pain medication to a patient with history substance abuse. To achieve goals of effective pain management nurses must first be aware of their values and personal beliefs concerning pain and the behaviors associated with it, this will assist in developing an awareness and sensitivity to the patient’s need. Nurses must be knowledgeable and skilled in collection of both subjective and objective data (by accepting the patients’ assessment of pain by using pain assessment tools and observation of emotional behaviors such as crying or moaning), which will assist in identifying the intensity of patients’ pain and promote better outcomes. Misconceptions must be explored and addressed because these also impact outcomes, such as administering pain med on regular basis will lead to addiction or those who abuse drugs usually over exaggerate their pain, by acknowledging these misconceptions nurses will be able address patients’ pain related issues more professionally and improve steps toward effective pain management.

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Posted in Cultural Sensitivity, Ethnic Sensitivity, Human Rights, Medication Error | Comments Off on Effective Measures Towards Pain Management, comment

Child Abuse in Cultural Diversity Context, comment

October 15, 2009

Our hospital is located in one of the country’s largest immigration and refugee processing centers. To date, our language assistant coordinator has estimated over 30 different languages or dialects are currently being used throughout our local community. We had to change our Interpreter Policy a few years back following an incident that involved a child. A woman came into the ER with her thirteen year old daughter. She had severe abdominal pain, n/v, pelvic tenderness and was bleeding heavily. She did not speak or understand English. A call was placed to our language assistant coordinator, but it would be some time before assistance would arrive. Suspecting the woman was miscarrying, the doctors and nurses questioned the child -who did speak English as a secondary language. They asked pertinent medical questions in regards to their physical assessment findings. A few days later, our coordinator was contacted by a staff member from the local refugee center explaining that when the child went home that night she was severely beaten by her father. By discussing her mother’s personal medical history, the child had shamed the family. Her culture did not allow for children – certainly not females- to discuss topics that could be termed as sexual, regardless of the circumstances. The policy has since been updated and we can only gather information from a minor sixteen years old or older. We are to use children under 18 only in emergent situations. We need to be cognitive of the fact that even though we have rights and laws in our country – that once that front door closes at night, the laws and customs of the native country’s often prevail.

Original Post
June 4, 2009
Title: Child abuse in Cultural Diversity Context
While studying the chapter on cultural diversity, it made more sense to elaborate on some aspects of cultural diversity which still has a fine line between child abuse and cultural practice. One significant area is the right of African culture where parents make use of spanking as a means of corrective action or discipline. In Nigeria for instance, spanking takes the form of stroking with sticks, ruler or any linear object. Blending this tradition into the American context is another issue altogether. Law enforcement in America sees this type of traditional practice as child abuse and often send social services and child protective cases after parents. Many African families are in dilemma as to how to raise their children when it comes to drawing the line between discipline and child abuse. On observation so far, many families are forced to send their children back to Africa where the society upholds the saying "spare the rod and spoil the child". In recent social gatherings, African families are still debating over this controversy. They believe that the end result is better off if the parents spank the children rather than have the children sent to juvenile camps when their actions get criminal or turns into felonies. They often cite examples from the Bible as the foundation of wisdom and authority when it comes to raising responsible children in today’s society.

Child Abuse Neglect Attorney Lawyer

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Posted in Child Abuse & Neglect, Cultural Sensitivity, Ethnic Sensitivity | Comments Off on Child Abuse in Cultural Diversity Context, comment

Effective measures toward pain management, comment

September 8, 2009

This post reminds us that the measurement of pain is primarily subjective. As providers, we must always remember that people respond to and express pain very differently. We must be culturally sensitive when assessing and treating pain. Pain is the 5th vital sign. Pain affects the physical and psychological well-being of our patients. It is our responsibility to ensure that our patients’ pain is being well managed. We must know our own biases and misconceptions and leave them at the door.

Original Post
September 2, 2009
Title: Effective measures toward Pain Management
Pain is an alteration in ones comfort level, which can significantly impact the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Pain is a subjective experience that can only be explained by the patient. Cultural and ethnicity are a few factors that influences patients response to pain, to improve outcomes nurses must be able to understand pain from a cultural perceptive. People respond to and view pain differently. Among various groups for various reasons emotions may or may not accompany pain it is viewed by some as an act of punishment or as a spiritual test. Having knowledge of patient’s views and how they define pain is very valuable in that it can assist the nurse in achieving positive outcomes by incorporating this information in the plan of care. Nurses who ignore or refuse to develop cultural sensitivity not only do they violate patients’ rights but also a chance of having a trustful relationship and without this you can expect poor outcomes. Pain is often poorly assessed and poorly managed due to reasons like misconceptions and nurses lack knowledge. This usually leads to under medications and poor outcomes, such as the post-op abdominal surgery patient that develop pneumonia because is unable to perform cough and deep breath exercises every 2hrs secondary to pain because of the nurses’ misconceptions about administering pain medication to a patient with history substance abuse. To achieve goals of effective pain management nurses must first be aware of their values and personal beliefs concerning pain and the behaviors associated with it, this will assist in developing an awareness and sensitivity to the patient’s need. Nurses must be knowledgeable and skilled in collection of both subjective and objective data (by accepting the patients’ assessment of pain by using pain assessment tools and observation of emotional behaviors such as crying or moaning), which will assist in identifying the intensity of patients’ pain and promote better outcomes. Misconceptions must be explored and addressed because these also impact outcomes, such as administering pain med on regular basis will lead to addiction or those who abuse drugs usually over exaggerate their pain, by acknowledging these misconceptions nurses will be able address patients’ pain related issues more professionally and improve steps toward effective pain management.

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Posted in Cultural Sensitivity, Ethnic Sensitivity, Human Rights, Medication Error | 1 Comment »

Effective measures toward Pain Management

September 2, 2009

Pain is an alteration in ones comfort level, which can significantly impact the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Pain is a subjective experience that can only be explained by the patient. Cultural and ethnicity are a few factors that influences patients response to pain, to improve outcomes nurses must be able to understand pain from a cultural perceptive. People respond to and view pain differently. Among various groups for various reasons emotions may or may not accompany pain it is viewed by some as an act of punishment or as a spiritual test. Having knowledge of patient’s views and how they define pain is very valuable in that it can assist the nurse in achieving positive outcomes by incorporating this information in the plan of care. Nurses who ignore or refuse to develop cultural sensitivity not only do they violate patients’ rights but also a chance of having a trustful relationship and without this you can expect poor outcomes. Pain is often poorly assessed and poorly managed due to reasons like misconceptions and nurses lack knowledge. This usually leads to under medications and poor outcomes, such as the post-op abdominal surgery patient that develop pneumonia because is unable to perform cough and deep breath exercises every 2hrs secondary to pain because of the nurses’ misconceptions about administering pain medication to a patient with history substance abuse. To achieve goals of effective pain management nurses must first be aware of their values and personal beliefs concerning pain and the behaviors associated with it, this will assist in developing an awareness and sensitivity to the patient’s need. Nurses must be knowledgeable and skilled in collection of both subjective and objective data (by accepting the patients’ assessment of pain by using pain assessment tools and observation of emotional behaviors such as crying or moaning), which will assist in identifying the intensity of patients’ pain and promote better outcomes. Misconceptions must be explored and addressed because these also impact outcomes, such as administering pain med on regular basis will lead to addiction or those who abuse drugs usually over exaggerate their pain, by acknowledging these misconceptions nurses will be able address patients’ pain related issues more professionally and improve steps toward effective pain management.

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Child Abuse in Cultural Diversity Context, comment

June 22, 2009

At what point in time did spanking become abuse. It would have been nice if the writer had defined spanking in this article. Being a father of 2, I have spanked both of my children and never once questioned that what I was doing was wrong. An open-handed slap on the butt and a marching to a corner or one’s room is an appropriate response to certain behaviors. A slap on the hand is very effective, along with some words indicating why the slap occurred. Pulling of hair, punches to the face and stomach, the slamming heads against walls, throwing of objects that cut the face and then being told " I love you"; now that is child abuse. But spanking, come on. And while some children who were abused during childhood turn into abusers themselves, not all do. And who are we to question a society’s following of a religion THAT WE INTRODUCED TO THEM?

Original Post;
June 4, 2009
Title; Child Abuse in Cultural Diversity Context
While studying the chapter on cultural diversity, it made more sense to elaborate on some aspects of cultural diversity which still has a fine line between child abuse and cultural practise. One significant area is the right of African culture where parents make use of spanking as a means of corrective action or discipline. In Nigeria for instance, spanking takes the form of stroking with sticks,ruler or any linear object. Blending this tradition into the American context is another issue altogether. Law enforcement in America sees this type of traditional practice as child abuse and often send social services and child protective cases after parents. Many African families are in dilemma as to how to raise their children when it comes to drawing the line between discipline and child abuse. On observation so far, many families are forced to send their children back to Africa where the society upholds the saying "spare the rod and spoil the child". In recent social gatherings, African families are still debating over this controversy. They believe that the end result is better off if the parents spank the children rather than have the children sent to juvenile camps when their actions get criminal or turns into felonies. They often cite examples from the Bible as the foundation of wisdom and authority when it comes to raising responsible children in today’s society.

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