Nurse Tamara is caring for a client diagnosed with bulimia. The most appropriate initial goal for a client diagnosed with bulimia is to:

Correct Answer: C. Identify anxiety-causing situations

Bulimic behavior is generally a maladaptive coping response to stress and underlying issues. The client must identify anxiety-causing situations that stimulate the bulimic behavior and then learn new ways of coping with the anxiety. Bulimia nervosa is a condition that occurs most commonly in adolescent females, characterized by indulgence in binge-eating, and inappropriate compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain.

• Option A: Controlling shopping for large amounts of food isn’t a goal early in treatment. It is important to educate patients who abuse laxatives that these medications work in the gastrointestinal tract after the areas where caloric absorption has occurred primarily. It is crucial to inform patients that a period of edema and weight gain may follow up to several weeks after discontinuation of purging behavior.
• Option B: Managing eating impulses and replacing them with adaptive coping mechanisms can be integrated into the plan of care after initially addressing stress and underlying issues. The primary objective of treatment is a cessation of the binging and purging behavior. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluoxetine, citalopram, and sertraline have shown to reduce symptoms of bulimia nervosa. Fluoxetine is the only FDA approved medication for bulimia nervosa. It appears that a higher dose (60 mg) is significantly better than a placebo in decreasing the frequency of binge and vomiting episodes.
• Option D: Eating three meals per day isn’t a realistic goal early in treatment. Patients with bulimia nervosa who purge by vomiting often brush their teeth immediately after purging, which can accelerate dental erosion. The clinician should instruct the patients who persist in vomiting to rinse their mouths with water or fluoride rather than brushing their teeth within 30 minutes of each episode. Consider consulting a dentist to address dental issues associated with vomiting.