470 Unit 4 NURSINGPRACTICE FORPSYCHIATRICDISORDERS
NURSING CARE PLAN HYPOCHONDRIASIS
Nursing Diagnosis
➤Ineffective Coping
Inability to form a valid appraisal of the stressors, inadequate choices of practiced
responses, and/or inability to use available resources.
ASSESSMENTDATA
- Denial of emotional problems
- Difficulty identifying and expressing
feelings - Lack of insight
- Self-preoccupation especially with
physical functioning - Fears of or rumination on disease
- Numerous somatic complaints (may in-
volve many different organs or systems) - Sensory complaints (pain, loss of taste
sensation, olfactory complaints) - Reluctance or refusal to participate in
psychiatric treatment program or
activities - Reliance on medications or physical
treatments (such as laxative
dependence) - Extensive use of over-the-counter med-
ications, home remedies, enemas, and
so forth - Ritualistic behaviors (such as exagger-
ated bowel routines) - Tremors
- Limited gratification from inter-
personal relationships - Lack of emotional support system
- Anxiety
- Secondary gains (attention, evasion of
responsibilities) received for physical
problems - History of repeated visits to physicians
or hospital admissions - History of repeated medical evaluations
with no findings of abnormalities
EXPECTEDOUTCOMES
Immediate
The client will
- Participate in the treatment
program - Decrease the number and frequency
of physical complaints - Demonstrate compliance with med-
ical therapy and medications - Demonstrate adequate energy, food,
and fluid intake - Identify life stresses and anxieties
- Identify the relationship between
stress and physical symptoms - Express feelings verbally
- Identify alternative ways to deal
with stress, anxiety, or other feelings
Stabilization
The client will - Decrease ritualistic behaviors
- Decrease physical attention-seeking
complaints - Verbalize increased insight into the
dynamics of hypochondriacal behav-
ior including secondary gains - Verbalize an understanding of thera-
peutic regimens and medications,
if any
Community
The client will - Eliminate overuse of medications or
physical treatments - Demonstrate alternative ways to deal
with stress, anxiety, or other feelings
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