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'Pure racist trash': Internet slams US nursing manual for shocking claims on ETHNIC responses to pain

A person, appalled by the claims in 'Nursing: A Concept-Based Approach to Learning', wrote, 'This can't be real, it's like something out of a satire'

A 2014 nurse's training book has been denounced for "racism" as it had a page that sketched how a patient's "culture" can "influence their response and beliefs about pain" and mentioned that Spanish-speaking speaking people believe discomfort "is a form of punishment" while blacks think "suffering is inevitable." The snaps of the page were shared by a social media user named Aubry and the name of the textbook is 'Nursing: A Concept-Based Approach to Learning'. 

It did not take much time for the post to get viral, leaving many users terrified and affronted over its description of how different races react to affliction. Pearson Publishing, who created the book eight years ago, wrote, "a clients' culture influences their response to and beliefs about pain." It also claimed that Arabs or Muslims "may not request pain medication" because of their credence that purgatory is a "test of faith." "Therefore, Muslim clients must endure pain as a sign of faith in return for forgiveness and mercy," it added, according to Daily Mail. 

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Besides, the paltry publication also stated that Chinese people "may not ask for medication because they do not want to take the nurse away from a more important task" and that "clients from Asian cultures often value stoicism as a response to pain." "A client who complains openly about pain is thought to have poor social skills [in Asian culture]," it said. "Filipino clients may not take pain medication because they view pain as being the will of God." 

The Indians were not left either as it said, "Indians who follow Hindu practice believe that pain must be endured in preparation for a better life in the next cycle." The nursing manual stated that people of color "often report higher pain intensity than other cultures," and that they "believe suffering and pain are inevitable." For the Jewish people, the textbook wrote that they will likely be "vocal and demanding of assistance" since they "believe that pain must be shared and validated by others." 

The book also stated that Hispanic people "believe pain is a form of punishment and that suffering must be endured if they are to enter Heaven." The book lastly mentioned the Native Americans, claiming they "prefer to receive medications that have been blessed by a tribal shaman. They believe such a blessing allows the client to be more at peace with the creator and makes the medicine stronger." It added, "They tend to be less expressive both verbally and nonverbally. They usually tolerate a high level of pain without requesting pain medication. They may pick a sacred number when asked to rate pain on a numerical pain scale." 

Aubry captioned her post, "A nursing book that was released in [2014]. They are training in racism." The post has since been retweeted thousands of times in a matter of hours. Many social media users labeled the book as "racist" and "problematic" after they were left stunned by the book's disturbing claims. 

"That's shocking. How about they just talk about how the human body deals with pain because we are all human regardless of color or religion," one person pointed out. "What in the horrible Stereotypes-R-Us even is this?! How is content like this still regarded as legitimate and being taught?!" someone else asked. "Obviously racist, with the exclusion of white people probably because they’re seen as the default. Sigh. This is so gross." "That is pure racist trash. I’m appalled," agreed another user. 

One person, who could not believe what he saw, wrote, "This can't be real. It's like something out of a satire." "Former nurse [here]. I was taught the pain experience is unique to each individual. None of that nonsense. That's disturbing," read the sixth tweet. A different person said that the "general idea of being aware of cultural difference [with] pain and medicine is good," but that "the groups chosen and examples used" were a "dumpster fire." "This is just such obvious racism. 'Blacks' report higher pain intensity is code for 'Watch out! These people are going to be drug seeking,'" said someone else. "There is already so much racism in the way healthcare is provided to minorities, and this textbook helps promote it. Just awful." Others called the page '"flat out gross," "horrendous," and "terrible. shameful, and embarrassing."

In 2017, the same page from the book received severe criticism after somebody posted about it on Facebook. The publisher issued an apology and announced that it was taking off the page from all future versions of the nursing manual. "We agree that it is wrong. We have removed it from current electronic and future print editions and apologize for its publication," Pearson wrote on Twitter.
"We hear you. We take full responsibility and are taking steps to correct this problem and ensure this does not happen again." 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.