Failure to

Thrive in the
Neonatal ICU

Trysten Guillen | Independent Study

Mentorship | Spring 2017 | Mrs. Click
Disclaimer: Information presented
throughout this presentation was
gathered from meetings with my
mentor and from outside sources.

All pictures are cited at the end of

the presentation.
Mentor

Student: Trysten Guillen

Mentor: Valerie Gray
– Certification/Degrees: RN, BSN, RNC-NIC
Ms. Valerie Gray works at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in
the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Ms. Gray originally intended on
becoming a doctor but fell in love with nursing. Since then she has
trained incoming nurses and mentored ISM students for 6 years in
her 20 year career as a nurse.
Clear Lake
Regional Medical
Center
– Location: 500 Medical Center Blvd. Webster,
TX 77598
– HCA affiliated hospital (Hospital Corporation
of America)
– Founded in 1972

– NICU nurses are certified through the

American Academy of Pediatrics’ Neonatal
Resuscitation Program
– Doctors are on-call 24/7
– CLRMC has level 2 and a level 3 in the NICU
and can take patients from other hospitals
needing intensive care if not born at CLRMC
What is ISM?

– Independent Study Mentorship is an

advanced academic research class
offered to Juniors and Seniors
– Students, while creating their semester
research topic shadow a mentor in their
field of work
– This will then lead to the creation of an
end of the semester presentation over
the information acquired from both in
and out of mentorship.
– Students will then be evaluated by their
mentor and two graders over their
research at a collegiate level.
Project Topic:
Failure to Thrive in the NICU

– Failure to Thrive in the NICU concerns the inability to

continue to grow under critical care, as the patients health is
reversing and progressively getting worse.
– I choose this topic as it is a very common thing to potentially
happen in the NICU, and understanding and seeing the signs
and symptoms of FTT before it happens could potentially
save the patients life.
 Key Points:

– What does Failure to Thrive (FTT) in the NICU mean?

– The history of progression in reducing FTT.
– Patients at risk of FTT and what to pay attention to.
– Treatment in preventing FTT.
– What are patients assumed to undergo FTT at risk of in the
long run?
 Current
– In Canada researchers have
Event
been talking about integrating
family care into NICU facilities to
be the priority care for neonatal
patients.
– This contributes to alternative
care methods in the NICU for
patients to be able to thrive.
Research

– 1. I will be researching cases of prenates

that are predicted to undergo FTT, or are
at risk, and how the nurses handle the
situation/change their method of
procedures.
– 2. I will be researching alternative
treatment plans for patients at risk of
FTT and whether or not they should be
integrate into NICU systems.
– 3. I️ will be researching the different
types of FTT in the NICU and what
makes them different from one another.
My Product

– For my product I will be creating a tri-fold presenting

symptoms of failure to thrive for prenatal patients and ways
to look for and prevent infant mortality prior to the
worsening of these symptoms.
– The tri-fold will also include information based on the maternal
instinct and connections to the patient and how that helps in
keeping the patient alive.
 Conclusion

– With the continuation of my mentorship at

CLRMC in the NICU, with Valerie Gray I
would like to further develop my
knowledge concerning the atmosphere
and work of the nurses in this ICU.
– Along with this I would like to gather a
general understanding of Failure to Thrive,
how maternal instinct is used in patient
care and how the lack of growth can harm
the patient in the long run.
Thank You
www.trystenguillenism2.weebly.com
 Work Cited

Bing, Microsoft, www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=1VRMCHlx&id=BDFBA64CA18B44EF209BC51004C67D1F5541B172&thid=OIP.1VRMCHlxdQg1v8i3VzsBiwHaE6&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%

Bing, Microsoft, www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=1VRMCHlx&id=BDFBA64CA18B44EF209BC51004C67D1F5541B172&thid=OIP.1VRMCHlxdQg1v8i3VzsBiwHaE6&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%.

Bing, Microsoft, www.bing.com/images/search?q=nicu&FORM=HDRSC2.

Bing, Microsoft, www.bing.com/images/search?q=nicu&FORM=HDRSC2.

Bing,Microsoft,www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=zCd9l7fD&id=CDB369407C2D31E183610EFE9683338A44E2A6AF&thid=OIP.zCd9l7fDzodmpl7xGG052wHaE8&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.

“Go to Bing Homepage.” Nicu - Bing Images.

“Go to Bing Homepage.” Mentor - Bing Images.

“Go to Bing Homepage.” Nicu+ - Bing Images.

“Go to Bing Homepage.” NICU – Bing Images.

Walker, Molly. “Preemies Fared Better When Parents Helped with NICU Care.” Medpage Today, MedpageToday, 2 Aug. 2018, www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/71020.