The Best Little Girl in the World

The Best Little Girl in the World

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The Best Little Girl in the World

Diagnosis

            The Best Little Girl in the World is a popular television film that was directed by Sam O’Steen in 1981. The film revolves around a teenager known as Casey Powell who has the ambition of becoming a professional ballet dancer. However, as she  begins to seek out loss of more pounds to reduce her weight and qualify for the professional ballet trials, Gail, her sister notices that she has lost a lot of weight. Casey is sent to a doctor and is diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (Durning et al., 1986). She was also diagnosed with bulimia nervosa. She is then sent for treatment because of her compulsive dieting. Although she is taken through a series of intensive counseling to help her improve on the dietary procedures, Casey fails to adhere to the treatment.

Pathophysiology

            Anorexia nervosa is a disorder that is seen in the eating habits that people display. The fundamental characteristics that commonly highlight anorexia include constant weight loss, the fear if adding on some weight, the urge to be thinner and thinner and restrictions from certain foods. As in the case of Casey, practitioners have associated the illness with a strong feeling that they are overweight and do not conform to the societal surroundings. Casey with the strong urge to join a professional ballet dancing team aimed at becoming thin. Her attention shifted to dieting that caused her ignorance and deterioration in other activities. She refuses to eat during several occasions and uses dietary pills used as supplements for weight loss.

Background

            Initially, Casey is considered as a top performer and achiever in school. However, her urge and intensity to become a professional ballet dancer causes her to exploit a new avenue. That of loosing weight. A contributor to her vigor and zeal is her ballet teacher who notices her expertise and encourages her to lose a few pounds. Considering that Casey’s parents have always viewed Gail as the better child, Casey decides to take up her dream. Among the physical causes of anorexia include, low self esteem, depression, lack of control, anxiety and loneliness. Casey displayed all these signs before she decided to diet. The sociological background to the ailment may be exposure to certain sports such as ballet dancing.

ADPIE

            As the standardized process that was designed to improve the condition of a patient as well as the health, ADPIE employs proper analysis and treatment for people with various ailments (Gardner, 2003). The acronym stands for Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation and Evaluation. The assessment stage involves identifying the problem with the patient. In this case, Casey feels ignored and desires to pursue ballet dancing. She would do anything to lose weight and become a professional dancer. During the diagnosis stage, the practitioners evaluate the patient’s current and potential health problem. Casey has become very thin and her diet has dilapidated. This stage involves an evaluation of the corresponding symptoms. The planning phase involves building a nursing care plan. In this case, therapy sessions were offered to Casey. The implementation and evaluation stages involve actualizing the nursing plan and evaluating the goals and outcomes of the treatment and interventions.

Conclusion

            Casey showed distinct signs of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. This conditioned worsened as she used dietary pills and failed to eat healthy. Such ailments may be caused by social or physiological factors that she displayed. The ADPIE process enables the patient as well as practitioners to employ conscious and informed treatment while approaching the ailments.

References

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Durning, C., Saint, E. M., Leigh, J. J., Levenkron, S., Aaron Spelling Productions., & Continental Video. (1986). The Best little girl in the world. Los Angeles, CA: Continental Video.

Gardner, P. (2003). Nursing process in action. Australia: Thomson, Delmar Learning.

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