Alumna Feature – Allisyn Pletch (B.S ’92/H&S, B.S. ’97/N)
Carolyn Jones, author of 2012’s book American Nurse , knows an exceptional nurse when she sees one. There on page 104 is the VCU School of Nursing’s own Allisyn Pletch in her role as clinical coordinator for the Johns Hopkins Eating Disorders Program.
Pletch began her studies at VCU with the goal of becoming a psychologist, graduating in December 1992 with a B.S. in psychology and heading off to New York for graduate school. The experience turned out to not be what she had expected and caused her to reconsider her plans. Eventually she began to realize that what she was looking for was to practice in a way that would allow her to really know her patients. Enrolling in VCU’s Accelerated Nursing Program, Pletch soon found she could focus her studies on psych nursing and eating disorders in particular by regularly using eating disorders as a focus of her independent projects, case studies, and by attending workshops when available. Plus, she was able to work with Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D. (then professor of human and molecular genetics and director, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at the VCU School of Medicine) as a research assistant to boost her research skills.
After graduation she made it her goal to work for Johns Hopkins as Richmond does not have an inpatient eating disorders program.
“Johns Hopkins has given me the freedom to explore and become an expert in the area of eating disorders,” Pletch said.
One of the many things she does (in addition to managing the unit) is to visit doctors, dentists and school counselors offices and make them aware of how to spot the signs of eating disorders in patients and how to bring it up in conversation. Remarkably, Pletch said that often a terribly underweight patient will appear to be healthy in his or her medical chart as his or her body has adjusted to living at a low weight, so it really often takes a nurse’s attention to the whole patient to reveal an eating disorder.
Eating disorders have long been stigmatized and were often blamed on bad parenting, but current research is pointing to genetic factors much like those associated with alcoholism and anxiety. Often going on a diet is the trigger that sets the disorder into motion. The Johns Hopkins program is fairly unique in that it is hospital based (most eating disorder programs are private businesses). At Hopkins they treat those who are very sick and have often failed in other programs or who have been told they can’t recover. Pletch said the Hopkins program is behavioral in nature. It is based around group therapy and often the other patients do the heavy lifting in regards to pressuring each other to eat. There is an inpatient unit with seven beds, plus a day program with 10 patients that allows them to re-adjust to life in the real world and live in a townhouse near the hospital.
Pletch is an advocate for her patients far beyond the walls of Johns Hopkins. She will present at the 2013 annual National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) conference in Washington, D.C. in early October and is active in lobbying for change regarding the health insurance laws to improve the coverage for those with eating disorders. She has been coming to VCU twice a year for over eight years to share her knowledge with our Nursing 355 Class (Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing) and will be on campus on Friday, Oct. 4 to share her experience with our students.
