Caring for adolescent females with anorexia nervosa: registered nurses’ perspective

Abstract

This phenomenological study was undertaken to explore in depth the experiences of registered nurses caring for adolescent anorexic females within paediatric wards of general hospitals in Victoria, Australia. A qualitative design underpinned by the philosophy of Edmund Husserl was employed for this study. Audio taped in-depth interviews with five registered nurses working within the public health care system were conducted. Using Colaizzi's procedural steps of analysis, six themes of meaning were explicated. They were: (a) personal core values of nurses; (b) core values challenged; (c) emotional turmoil; (d) frustration; (e) turning points; and (f) resolution. These themes, when taken together, described the essence of the journey undertaken by registered nurses who cared for adolescent anorexic females. The findings of this study indicated that there is a need for extensive registered nurse preparation, on-going support, and development of education programmes to enable registered nurses to care for these patients with greater understanding. Further, the participants identified the need for new care regimes and protocols to be developed that incorporated new ways of thinking. They also expressed a desire to be have greater involvement in the planned care of their patients.

Un/imaginable future selves: A discourse analysis of in‐patients' talk about recovery from an ‘eating disorder’

“…As noted above, estimated recovery rates for both 'anorexia' and 'bulimia' remain concerningly low (Ben-Tovim, 2003;NHS, 2008;Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2008) and those diagnosed are frequently characterised as difficult to treat; as tending to deny their problem and be oppositional, uncooperative and impervious to therapeutic intervention (Kaplan & Garfinkel, 1999;King & Turner, 2000;Lindsay, 1997). Obstacles to recovery are thus often located, whether explicitly or implicitly, within the patient (Gremillion, 2003;Hepworth, 1999) such that poor outcomes are viewed as being a consequence of, for example, patients' personalities (e.g.…”

“…This situation is often understood-whether explicitly or implicitly-in terms of 'typical' patient characteristics where patients are viewed as over-estimating their bodysize (WHO, 1992), denying their problem (Kaplan & Garfinkel, 1999) and thus oppositional and difficult to treat (Kaplan & Garfinkel, 1999;King & Turner, 2000).…”

“…Thus patients have been described as 'hostile', 'oppositional', 'uncooperative', 'impervious to treatment' and as ambivalent to change (Kaplan & Garfinkel, 1999;King & Turner, 2000; see Colton & Pistrang, 2004;Garrett, 1991;Geller, Drab-Hudson, Whisenhunt, & Suja, 2004). Likewise it has been suggested that patients' comorbidities (Schmidt & Treasure, 2006), 'typical' personality traits such as perfectionism (Holkamp et al 2005) and cognitive abilities or styles (see Tchanturia et al, 2008), for example, cognitive rigidity (McIntosh et al, 2005), may hinder more positive outcomes for those diagnosed.…”

Le contre-transfert dans le traitement des troubles alimentaires: Recension systématique des écrits

“…Dans une étude phénoménologique 14 , 5 infirmières travaillant avec des patients souffrant de TA ont rapporté être devenues méfiantes, avoir eu de la difficulté à faire confiance aux patients, puis s'être senties inadéquates et découragées de ne pas être capables d'établir un lien de confiance. Elles rapportent également avoir ressenti frustration, tristesse et colère.…”

Young Women With Anorexia Nervosa

“…However, it has been found that some nurses feel that the patients have caused the illness and should therefore be able to deal with it themselves (Ramjan, 2004). King and Turner (2000) reported that nurses are suspicious of and find it difficult to understand patients exhibiting anorectic behavior. They found that when nurses are given the opportunity to reflect over their care actions, the nurses tend to change their attitude and become more understanding of the patient's illness.…”