Critique - Article Example

Download file to see previous pages Key words: Pain management, Hispanics, culture “Estoy en un monton de dolor” Experiencing Pain from a Hispanic Cancer Patient’s Perspective Though there are many flaws in the healthcare system in the United Stated, for many migrants especially African Americans and Hispanics, the existence of such a system is a great blessing. Many vie for immigrant status and citizenship to enjoy the privileges of social healthcare. The United States is a country that stood for equality of rights for every man, no matter the race, culture, or belief; however, it is shocking and disappointing to find out that there are discrepancies in the pain management options given to migrant cancer patients especially with regards to Hispanic cancer patients. I have known and seen a lot of people who had different types of cancer in the course of my life and in the academic degree that I chose. I have seen the tremendous amount of pain they experience especially those in the late stages of the disease. The pain relievers prescribed to them helps in improving their quality of life but it is sad even just to imagine that there are countless others, who are in the socio-cultural as well as socioeconomic minority that are needlessly experiencing excruciating pain when they already have the access to proper pain management options via the government’s healthcare system. The study of Im, Guevara, and Chee (2007) gives us a glimpse of how pain is handled by Hispanics. It also gives insights to the different factors that contribute to the inadequacy of pain management interventions that Hispanic cancer patients receive. By examining their research in a qualitative way, we can get insight on the value of understanding the sociocultural dimension of a cancer patient’s pain management, and thus help equalize the disparities in treatment given to Hispanics and other migrants. This will allow us nurses to give quality patient care to all mankind, as is our sworn responsibility. I. Hispanic Cancer Patient’s Pain as Described in the Article – Discussion and Critique As the authors’ examined the part that socio-cultural background plays in the experience of pain in Hispanic cancer patients, I was given a clear representation of how the healthcare paradigm works in for the case of migrants. I appreciate the effort that they gave in representing the “pain experience” as personal as possible by quoting actual forum responses of the cancer patients. This painted a picture that gets the reader to easily empathize with the patient and allows the reader to view how hard it is for Hispanic cancer patients to endure everyday with the pain that they bear. Although they presented the testimonies of their respondents well, there are certain aspects of their methodology that can be improved to make the implications of the study have more weight. (1) The sampling method used was convenience sampling which automatically results in biased data. The title of the study indicates that the author’s wanted to show insights for Hispanic cancer patients’ pain experience all over the United States; however they did not get representative samples for different States which is indicative that the finding could not be generalized to bear implications to the whole of the United States and the whole healthcare ...Download file to see next pages Read More