Mr. Cisneros is a 38 year old Latino male patient, admitted to athe nursing unit after sustaining a spinal injury in a fall. He hasundergone an Anterior Cervical Fusion and Discectomy of C4-5 andhas continued to complain of in “both legs below the thigh”. Hishistory included years of “living on the street” and activeintravenous drug abuse at the time of admission. He is currentlyincarcerated in the area prison. Assessment reveals: The patient isvery anxious, focused on his legs and “I’m hungry”. (No orders havebeen placed for a diet). He has been pulling on his SCDconnections, to “make sure they are working” and complaining ofpain “nine-to-ten” on a scale of one-to-ten, with intensity focusedin the area of his surgical wounds. A sheriff’s deputy is sittingat the bedside at all times. He can have Morphine for pain butstates “ I don’t call out cause I know they just think I’m tryingto get the drugs.” When the unit charge nurse and the attendingphysician respond to being called for pain management options, theydescribe the patient’s condition as “probably related to being adruggie” and that his pain is mostly “drug seeking” in nature, asevidenced by his “calling for more medication a few times a shift,”and that he seems to “watch the clock.” They also note that thispatient is a “prisoner” who “ did this to himself”
What is Labeling and how does it relate to prejudice and racialethical concerns?
