Understanding the etiological issues of the eating disorders of anorexia nervosa and bulimia provides psychiatric nurses with an essential knowledge base on which to build treatment decisions and plans for therapeutic interventions. In Part II, diagnostic and treatment issues for clients with anorexia nervosa or bulimia is discussed. The unique role of the psychiatric nurse in this process will be explored. For the purposes of this article, the discussion of eating disorders will focus on the classification as specified in DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) specifically limited to the categories of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.