Adolescence and eating disorders: nursing approach from the day hospital

Abstract

Eating disorders (ED) are the most frequent psychiatric alteration with organic repercussions and the third most common chronic illness in young women, with a multifactorial origin. The day hospital is one of the specialized care settings, where nutritional restoration, intervention in family dysfunctions, correction of body image and the patient’s social adaptation are pursued. We present the case of a 16-year-old woman referred to the day hospital after discharge from a brief hospitalization unit with a diagnosis of restrictive-purging pattern ED, with severe weight loss, altered body image, anxiety, unstructured ideas of death and self-injurious behaviour. After assessment according to Marjory Gordon’s functional health patterns, a care plan was developed with the NANDA, NOC and NIC taxonomies (ineffective health management, imbalanced nutrition, anxiety, risk of self-mutilation, disturbed body image and risk of disturbed personal identity). In the evaluation, the patient showed awareness of illness and adherence to treatment, effective anxiety management, absence of ideas of death and self-injurious behaviour, and improvement in family and peer relationships.