| Learning Objective #1: Discuss the influences of different variables in delivering culturally sensitive nursing care to patients presenting with pain in the ED | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Evaluate their own practice related to effective pain management in ethnic and racial minorities |
PURPOSE/TARGET AUDIENCE: The purpose of this health services research is to determine if ineffective pain management occurs in minorities in Emergency Departments (EDs) and to determine its causes. All healthcare professionals who seek awareness of racial disparities in pain management practice will be interested in this research. OBJECTIVE: The specific objective of this research is to determine whether racial and ethnic differences in pain treatment exist for adults (18 years old or older) who are admitted to the ED with long-bone fractures, and to seek predictors of the disparate treatment. VARIABLES: Specifically, how do the variables of patient age, gender, ethnicity, need for interpreter, fracture location, mechanism of injury, and payer status, as well as the variables of healthcare provider ethnicity, type of analgesia ordered, route of the dose, time following ED admission to time seen by the healthcare provider, total time in ED, patient’s recorded report of pain, nurses’ clinical notation of pain in the clinical record, use of a clinical tool to measure pain intensity, time of presentation to ED, and nurse staffing affect the time between admission and the first administration of pain medication and the number of doses of pain medication administered in the ED. DESIGN: A causative retrospective design is being used. POPULATION/SAMPLE/SETTING: All medical records of patients 18 years old or older at three hospital EDs who presented with a long-bone fracture during the last 2 years are being utilized. Data collection will be completed by June 1, 2003. CONCLUSION/IMPLICATIONS: Inadequate treatment of pain in minority patients may result from many factors. Research findings will enable a better understand the influence of financial pressures, staffing inadequacies, and procedures for assessing and relieving pain on the management of pain for ED patients.
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