In-depth Health Assessment of Jackie in the Movie Stepmom

This presentation provides a comprehensive health assessment of the character Jackie from the movie Stepmom, who is diagnosed with terminal lymphoma. It begins with an overview of the movie and Jackie's background, highlighting her role as a devoted mother and her initial distrust of Isabel, her ex-husband's girlfriend. The presentation details functional assessments, including health perception, nutrition, elimination, activity, cognition, sleep, self-perception, role relationships, coping mechanisms, and values. Normal and abnormal health findings are analyzed, along with cultural, geographical, religious, ethnic, and spiritual observations. Nursing considerations, such as nursing diagnoses (weakness, dizziness, nausea, flu, fear) and interventions (health promotion, prevention, maintenance), are discussed. The presentation concludes with resources for cancer care and emphasizes the movie's emotional support for dealing with illness and family issues.

STEPMOM
A MOVIE CHARACTER HEALTH
ASSESSMENT PRESENTATION

OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION
• Stepmom is a movie about a divorced couple with two kids,
Ana 12 and Ben 6. Jackie, the mother of the kids is
diagnosed with terminal lymphoma.
• This presentation focuses on Jackie’s character and her
health issue.
• It contains a detailed functional assessment of Jackie’s
illness.
• Nursing diagnosis is discussed.
• Some additional observations are stated.

BACKGROUND OF MOVIE AND CHARACTER
About the movie
• The five central
characters comprises
of a divorced couple
with two kids and a
woman (Isabel) who is
in a relationship with
the father (Luke) of the
kids. The biological
mother, Jackie tries to
cope up with terminal
Lymphoma and the
issues with Isabel
along with fulfilling all
the motherly duties.
The Character
• Jackie is a former publisher before
motherhood.
• She is a dutiful mother.
• She dislikes and distrusts Luke’s
girlfriend, Isabel.

FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENTS
• Health Perception/Health Management
• Jackie has knowledge about her lymphoma.
• She is under regular medical attention, receives Chemotherapy and gets
protein injections (Van Nimwegen et al., 2017)
• Nutrition/Metabolic
• Jackie has maintained a healthy lifestyle and a balanced weight till the first
half of the film.
• However, she loses weight in the second half with the on-going
chemotherapy (del Palacio-González and Clark, 2014) .
• Pattern of Elimination
• Although not shown in the film, lymphoma patients encounter frequent
nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and constipation in later stages.

ASSESSMENT CONTINUED
• Pattern of Activity/Exercise
• Jackie is proactive. She takes care of her children’s daily schedule.
• She is always into doing some kind of projects for her kids.
• Cognitive/Perceptual Pattern
• Jackie does not show any sensory deficits (Marroquín, 2016)
• Experiences weakness and fever sometimes (Drukarczyk et al., 2014)
• Pattern of Sleep and Rest
• Jackie takes adequate rest and sleeps to be fit for taking care of her
children.

ASSESSMENT CONTINUED
• Pattern of Self Perception and Self Concept
• Jackie accepts her illness
• She was skeptical about Isabel initially. However she starts liking and
trusting her later.
• Role/Relationship Patterns
• She is the best mother to her kids.
• Even though she is divorced, her ex-husband Luke counts on her for any
matter regarding the kids.
• Sexuality/Reproductive Patterns
• Jackie is not seen to indulge in a relationship since her divorce.

ASSESSMENT COMPLETE
• Pattern of Coping and Stress Tolerance
• Jackie understand that her illness is fatal yet she does not fall into despair.
• She encounters weakness and flu from time to time but does not let them
come between her care for her children.
• She starts to smoke cigarettes implying that nothing else can kill her
anymore.
• Mentally, she stresses about Isabel.
• She takes the initiative to discuss about the future of her kids with Isabel
saying that she will be her children’s past and Isabel would be their
present.
• Pattern of Values and Beliefs
• Later in the film, she still tries to create a bond between Isabel and the kids
as she believes that the kids should love their new mother.
• She tries her best to instill good moral value in her children.

ANALYSIS OF HEALTH ASSESSMENT
Normal assessment
findings
• Jackie’s health is
deteriorating time.
• She is encountering
severe weakness with
the advancement of
stages of lymphoma.
Abnormal or risk-based
findings
• Nothing as such,
however her newly
started smoking habit
might have some effect
on the progression of
the cancer.

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS
• Cultural:
Jackie belongs from the Topical culture of the
USA. Takes part in celebrating major national
holidays.
• Geographical:
she lives in the suburbs of New York.
• Religious:
she is a believer of God, however does not
visits church frequently.
• Ethnic:
she is an American Caucasian
• Spiritual:
Jackie believes that there is a life after demise.
So she tells her kids that her spirit will always
be around them after she passes away.

NURSING CONSIDERATIONS
Nursing Diagnosis
• Weakness due to
chemotherapy
• Dizziness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Flu
• Fear and anxiety of death
Intervention
• Health promotion: Jackie should avoid high dose of
radiation and tobacco consumption.
• Health prevention: she should keep an eye on her fluid
intake and output. Dermatological care is needed.
• Health Maintenance: administration of prescribed drug
for anxiety management. (Raga-Chardi, 2016)
Resources
• https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/
cancer/services/this website gives a detailed
information about the cancer services
program in New York.
• https://gildasclubnyc.org/ Another cancer
care community in New York that helps
patients to cope up with their illness.

CONCLUSION
• The movie, Stepmom, has the strength to
provide emotional support to it viewers for
dealing with an ailment and a broken home
altogether. This film portrays the power of love
to fix unspeakable pain and live through the
tragedies of life.

REFERENCES
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Drukarczyk, L., Klein, C., Ostgathe, C., & Stiel, S. (2014). Life threatening illness in
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Journal of Adolescent Research,
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