The pain experience and beliefs of Chinese patients who have sustained a traumatic limb fracture

Purpose: To describe the pain experience and the pain belief of a group of Chinese patients with traumatic fracture of limb and surgery. Design: A qualitative descriptive design with in-depth interview was employed. A purposive sample of 26 Chinese patients was recruited who were diagnosed with a fractured limb and had undergone surgery in a trauma unit in a regional hospital in Hong Kong, China. Findings: Content analysis resulted in seven themes describing informants' pain experience and belief, which included intense pain, lack of control over pain, pain as a negative signal, worry about 'shan', limited knowledge of pain management, eagerness to be a good patient, and the need to learn to cope with pain. Informants experienced intense pain over which they had no control. They believed that pain is inevitable when one has a fracture, therefore one should bear the pain. They avoided analgesia as they considered it had serious side effects. These beliefs shaped their pain coping behaviour. Conclusion: The understanding of Chinese patients' pain experience will help nurses to plan culturally sensitive education programmes that may enhance patients' knowledge of pain medication and clarify their pain beliefs which might lead to more effective pain management. Alternative interventions on pain management could thus be provided.