Question

Jody Foster is a 28-year-old Caucasian woman who presents to the emergency department complaining of right-sided rib pain, neck pain, and headache after being physically assaulted by her husband. Last evening her husband came home intoxicated and became angry when their 12-month-old son began to cry. He punched her in the face, chest, then began to choke her by squeezing her neck for about a minute. She began to feel dizzy, but did not lose consciousness. She admits that this is not the first time she has been assaulted by her husband, but acknowledges that it has gotten worse lately.

Her right cheek is swollen with a large abrasion. She has left lateral neck pain, but no cervical spine tenderness. Her headache is on the left side of her head that has been continuous since she was assaulted. She rates it as a 9/10 and a “throbbing” sensation. She has increased pain in her right chest when she takes a deep breath. She has no other neurologic complaints. The CT of her head is normal, and x-rays revealed no facial or rib fractures.

Jody has no family in the community and no close friends who can assist her. She refuses to press charges against her husband, therefore she does not want the police to be notified. Information regarding shelters for women are given to her but Jody wants to go back home because, “My husband left the house to cool off after I left and said he would go to a friend’s house for the night.” Despite the primary care provider communicating that her life is possibly in danger if she returns home, Jody states that she has no place to go. She relates that she does not want to go to a woman’s shelter with her baby because everything is going to be OK and this time, he is really sorry.

1. What additional data has significance to you? Be sure to explain why/how it is significant.

1. Based on your data collection, what dilemma is this client facing?

Answer 1

In the given scenario, the victim is a 28 year old lady named Jody Foster who is admitted to the emergency department when her husband physically assaulted her. She stated that her husband has assaulted many times earlier, but this time, the condition has gotten serious lately. Her CT scan of head region seems to be normal and no rib or facial fractures are revealed.

Victim has no close friends and no family members for assisting her. She is also refusing to file a case against her husband. She also expresses her will to go back her home as his husband will be somewhere else. She refuses to go to women shelter with her one year baby.

Additional data that holds significance in this case includes her independence in terms of earnings because she has a one year old baby whose caring and parenting needs time, money and affection by both mother and father. Also, another reason could be her love towards her husband, due to which she do not want to end up with him. Her husband comes home intoxicated and he is not in his senses, due to which he is not able to distinguish between right and wrong. Jody might want to help him and do not want to leave him.

The victim is facing dilemma in the given case because she is not financially independent and she needs to care for her baby. Secondly, she has no known contacts in their locality, if she thought of living in women shelter. She also claimed that her husband is feeling sorry and wants things to get normal between them.

Thus, it is suggested that the couple must consult to counsellor and her husband should really go for anger management course so that he is able to cope with his bad habit and also should quit drinking and smoking.