Ethnography Of Chronic Pain Experiences Of Enlisted Women

Abstract

The American Pain Foundation reported in 2006 that 32% of military men and women with chronic pain reported that military culture is a barrier to pain care and receiving pain care jeopardized their career. Pain management required a series of understandings about pain in the military that motivated enlisted women's pain perceptions, pain behaviors, and pain relief strategies. The seen and unseen factors were ever-present in military life and contributed to the chronic pain experiences of enlisted women but to what degree was largely unknown. This ethnographic approach produced brief illustrations of pain beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that enlisted women understand to be true. This research represented the reality of enlisted women's chronic pain experience using semi-structured interviews of 14 enlisted women who ranged between 28 and 59 years of age and represented the Army, Air Force, and Navy/Coast Guard. The female health care providers included two physicians, one women's clinic coordinator, and three staff nurses. The themes included Mission First, call out the weak, customs & courtesies, pride, seeking care, stigma, guilt, pain management, decisions, and control. Providers themes included pain is complex, deteriorating potential, seeking care, pain management, communication.