The purpose of this article is to provide a review of current literature related to humor and pain management. A brief review of the benefits of humor on the body is followed by a literature review of articles on humor and pain management, including research articles and scholarly articles on the topic. Research studies on the use of humor with both acute and chronic pain will be reported. The review of scholarly unresearched articles will include articles giving guidelines for humor use, suggested humor assessment guidelines, discussion of the nurse's role with humor use, and implementation strategies via humor carts and rooms.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berk, L. S. (1984). Modulation of human natural cells by catecholamines. Clinical Research, 32(1), 115.
2.
Berk, L., & Tau, S. (1989) Neuroendocrine influences of mirthful laughter. American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 298(December), 390-396.
3.
Bihn, P. (1995). Starting a humor cart. Journal of Nursing Jocularity, 5(2), 32-35.
4.
Bottorff, J., Gogag, M., & Engelberg-Lotzkar, M. (1995). Comforting: Exploring the work of cancer nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 22, 1077-1084.
5.
Buxman, K. (1991). Make room for laughter. American Journal of Nursing, 91(12), 48-51.
6.
Cogan, R., Cogan, D., Waltz, W., & McCue, M. (1987). Effects of laughter and relaxation on discomfort thresholds. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 3, 139-144.
7.
Cohen, M. (1990). Caring for ourselves can be funny business. Holistic Nursing Practice, 4(4), 1-11.
8.
Cousins, N. (1979). Anatomy of an illness. New York: Bantam.
9.
Cousins, N. (1989) Head first: The biology of hope and the healing power of the human spirit. New York: Penguin.
10.
Davidhizar, R., & Bowen, M. (1992) The dynamics of laughter. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 7(2), 132-137.
11.
Erdman, L. (1991). Laughter therapy for patients with cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum, 18(8), 1359-1363.
12.
Ferrell, B., Johnston-Taylor, E., Grant, M., Fowler, M., & Corbisiero, R. (1993). Pain management at home: Struggle, comfort and mission. Cancer Nursing, 16(3), 169-178.
13.
Freud, S. (1905). Jokes and their relation to the unconscious. Vienna, Austria: Deuticke.
14.
Fry, W. F. (1971). Mirth and oxygen saturation of peripheral blood. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic, 19, 76-84.
15.
Fry, W. F. (1977). The respiratory components of mirthful laughter. Journal of Biological Psychology, 19(2), 39-50.
16.
Fry, W. F. (1979). Mirth and the human cardiovascular system. In H. Mindess &J. Turek (Eds.), The study of humor. Los Angeles: Antioch University Press.
17.
Fry, W. F. (1984). Laughter and health. In Encyclopedia Britannica, Medical and Health Annuals; Special Report (pp. 259-262). USA: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
18.
Fry, W. F. (1992). The physiological effects of humor, mirth, and laughter. Journal of the American Medical Association, 267(13), 1857-1858.
19.
Gaberson, K. (1995). The effect of humorous and musical distraction on preoperative anxiety. AORN Journal, 62, 784-791.
20.
Proverbs17:22.
21.
Hunt, A. (1993). Humor as a nursing intervention. Cancer Nursing, 16(1), 34-39.
22.
Kennedy, K. (1995). Have a laugh! Have a healthy laugh!Nursing Forum, 30(1), 25-30.
23.
Lee, M. (1995). An interview with Sandy Ritz. AIN, 95(8), 39-41.
24.
Leise, C. M. (1993). The correlation between humor and the chronic pain of arthritis. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 11, 82-85.
25.
Martin, R. A., & Lefcourt, H. M. (1983). Sense of humor as a moderator of the relationship between stressors and moods. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(6), 1313-1324.
26.
Martin, R. A., & Lefcourt, H. M. (1984). Situational Humor Response Questionnaire: Quantitative measure of sense of humor. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47(1), 145-155.
27.
McCaffery, M. (1990). Nursing approaches to nonpharmacological pain control. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 27(1), 1-5.
Thorson, J. A., & Powell, F. C. (1993). Development and validation of a multidimensional sense of humor scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 49(1), 13-23.
30.
Wooten, P. (1995). Jest for the health of it-Humor cart for cancer patients: An interview with Terri Bennett. Journal of Nursing Jocularity, 5(3), 46-47.
