Developing an Evidence-Based Patient Education Guide on Pain Management for Asian Patients on Hospice.
Sally Huang, Joan Gygax Spicer
PMID 38975821WHAT IT FOUND
Hospice nurses and Asian patients described pain barriers: enduring pain, preferring Chinese remedies, fearing addiction, and worrying about side effects.
Nurses used comfort goals, family education, early medication steps, and first-dose monitoring.
Key findings
01Six patients and six nurses identified four patient pain themes: enduring pain, preference for Chinese medicine remedies, fear of addiction, and concerns about side effects.
02Nurses reported six strategies for pain management: focusing on hospice comfort goals, involving families, explaining pain physiology, starting medication progression early, addressing addiction fears, and managing side effects.
03Patients expressed fear of addiction when narcotics were discussed, and one linked morphine to a family death.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only six patients and six nurses from one hospice in Oakland, so it cannot show how all Asian hospice patients experience pain. Interviews were not recorded, and the data depended on field notes written after conversations. The nurse interviewer thought patients may have been guarded because comments were brief. The paper reports themes and guide development, not outcomes from testing the guide. Findings and the guide may not apply to every Asian group.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat these themes as general facts about Asian patients or as evidence that the guide works. The study describes a small hospice sample and does not test pain outcomes.