NursingSprint

✔ Clients with anorexia nervosa are at high risk for life-threatening complications, especially fluid and electrolyte imbalances like hypokalemia, hyponatremia, and dehydration, which can lead to cardiac arrhythmias or organ failure.

✔ The nurse’s top clinical responsibility is to prioritize physiological stability. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, basic life-sustaining needs such as hydration and electrolyte balance take precedence over psychological or emotional goals.

✔ Once the client’s physical condition is stabilized, the nurse can then shift focus to emotional support, group therapy, and self-esteem building, which are crucial but not immediately life-saving.

Incorrect Options:

• "A. Encouraging the patient to attend group therapy"
• Important for long-term psychological healing, but not the immediate priority in a physically compromised state.
• "B. Monitoring for thoughts of self-harm."
• Always necessary, but fluid and electrolyte imbalance poses a more immediate physical threat in anorexia nervosa.
• "D. Fostering feelings of self-respect"
• Part of long-term therapeutic goals, but not a priority during acute medical instability.