The ethnicity and culture of the nurse may be as important as the patient's culture in determining the impact of pain and how it is treated. Pain is a subjective and universal experience of human existence that individuals of every age and every culture experience. Controlling pain is a serious and critical problem for many Americans. Pain has physical, emotional, social, and spiritual components. The patient is viewed in the context of family, culture, past experiences, and the meaning of the event being experienced.
Emotive patients are more likely to verbalize their expressions of pain.
Expressive patients often come from Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean backgrounds, while stoic patients often come from Northern European and Asian backgrounds. Caregivers must also be aware that people within cultural groups may differ biologically from those in other groups. This is true with medications affecting the central nervous system that may be used for pain or symptoms related to pain. In this case, an analgesic response to codeine is not experienced. Culture can be thought of as a system of shared values, beliefs, and understandings about what words and actions mean and the ways in which these values and beliefs are expressed.