How do YOU spell relief?

The snow has been falling intermittently in Prague for two months. The streets and sidewalks are rife with patches of ice that threaten all who trod there. I’ve been doing quite a bit of slippin’ and slidin’ myself, and I’ve had a number of patients come to the medical unit that have been injured from falls. Some have been referred to our local emergency departments or orthopedists for treatment.

This brings me to the topic of pain and, more precisely, pain control. Americans, probably more than any other society on earth, are interested in pain control. We don’t like to hurt, and we believe that unnecessary pain is a violation of our human rights. We have laws that govern pain control measures, and we have developed pain measurement scales to assist providers in properly assessing the level of pain or pain relief.

Many other societies accept pain as incidental to injury and, while they may offer measures of relief, they are not committed to pain eradication whenever possible. Of course, there are many areas of the world where pain medication just doesn’t exist, or it is reserved for the truly severe cases, so pain tolerance is expected.

I’m discovering that the philosophy in the Czech Republic, as in much of Europe, is that pain is to be dampened by using the most moderate means available. That usually means no narcotics. Europeans love NSAIDS (ibuprofen-type medications) and are really slow to suggest narcotics. They also rely on nonpharmacological methods such as ice, heat, breathing techniques, muscle relaxation, music, massage therapy, and the list continues. These important adjuvant measures are used in the United States, too, but usually not for short-term or immediate pain control.

In West Africa, I took a patient with an injured leg to the local emergency department. The X-ray showed a displaced fracture and the orthopedist was called to do a closed reduction. I asked the doc, “What are you going to give her for pain?” He looked puzzled for a moment, then turned to the nurse and said, “Please prepare some tea!”

A very quick and tense conversation followed regarding pain control in this patient, who was now terrified as well as hurting. It was finally decided that I would scurry to my clinic to bring an appropriate pain medication to the hospital for my patient, as all the doc could provide was an NSAID. My patient had pain medication prior to the closed reduction and casting and, while the procedure was still a bit uncomfortable, she did quite well. Oh, yes. She also had tea!

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership, published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.