Nursing Case Study Of Bulimia

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• Demographics: 20-year-old female sent to inpatient mental health unit with an admitting diagnosis of bulimia nervosa.
• Reason for admission: Patient would binge eat at each meal, and was purging up to 35 times a week. She was recently diagnosed with Cushing’s Syndrome, type 2 diabetes, reoccurring mononucleosis, and kidney issues. She has been admitted to the hospital over 5 times because of pyelonephritis and reoccurring kidney stones. Patient refers to her purging episodes as “getting sick” and wants to stop her impulsive eating behaviors. Sometimes she feels guilty, and occasionally cuts her wrists.
• Psychosocial information: Before college, she had a gastric lap band surgery to help her lose weight, since she borderline obese. After …show more content…

She needs to be educated about bulimia nervosa and the complications of the disorder. She needs to be informed the negative consequences of binging and purging, and that these are maladaptive coping mechanisms. She needs to find healthier alternatives, so that she will not further destroy her body. She is started to cut herself, so working through her emotions would greatly benefit her safety.
• Nursing interventions for imbalanced nutrition – less than the body requirements/deficient fluid volume:
1) Patient will consume a certain amount of calories in order to get necessary nutrition and gain weight realistically. Rationale: “Adequate calories are required to allow a weight gain of 2-3 pounds per week” (Townsend, 2014, pg. 592).
2) Daily assessment of weight, skin turgor, monitor I/O’s, and mucous membranes. Rationale: “These assessments are important measurements of nutritional status and provide guidelines for treatment” (Townsend, 2014, pg. 592).
3) Nurse or other assistive personnel with stay will patient during and after meals. Rationale: “Lengthy mealtimes put excessive focus on food and eating and provide client with attention and reinforcement” (Townsend, 2014, pg. 593). Also, staying with the patient after the meal ensures that they do not try to puke up or stash away the …show more content…

Rationale: “Emotional issues must be resolved if these maladaptive responses are to be eliminated” (Townsend, 2014, pg. 593).
• Anxiety and psychotropic medications: Since there are no medications specifically for eating disorders, these medications will help treat the symptoms of anxiety and depression (Townsend, 2014, pg. 601). However, Fluoxetine has been successful in bulimia clients because it “may decrease the craving for carbohydrates, thereby decreasing the incidence of binge eating” (Townsend, 2014, pg. 602). Also, antidepressant drugs have aided treatment for bulimia nervosa.
• Treatment modalities: the most beneficial form of treatment for this patient would be psychotherapy, specifically individual therapy. The other treatment options were good too, but this one is needed because her case is more severe. According to Townsend (2014), “in supportive psychotherapy, the therapist encourages the client to explore unresolved conflicts and to recognize the maladaptive eating disorders as defense mechanisms used to ease the emotional pain” (Townsend, 2014, pg. 601). Since her life experiences have been rough, she needs to discuss them and stop pretending these events that happened to her are alright. She deserves to feel better as a person, so that she can live a successful

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