Failure To Thrive Infants Nursing Diagnosis and Nursing Care Plan

Failure To Thrive Infants Nursing Care Plans Diagnosis and Interventions

Failure to Thrive in Infants NCLEX Review and Nursing Care Plans

Failure to Thrive (FTT) in infants is a condition wherein the child is not gaining weight at an expected rate. It is identified as a very common problem usually encountered in the Pediatric practice.

Compared to other infants of the same age, children with FTT condition tend to be smaller and shorter. The two classifications of failure to thrive in infants are Organic and non-organic.

1. Organic failure to thrive – described as the result of a disease condition
2. Non-organic failure to thrive – has no known medical conditions involved

Both types of FTT relate to inadequate nutrition. The pathophysiology of FTT involves the deficiency of calories essential for the adequate growth of the child.

This can be a result of not taking enough calories, losing too many calories, or an increase in caloric demand. It is important to have an early recognition and treatment of Failure to Thrive to prevent possible developmental delays and other long-term effects on the child’s development.

Signs and Symptoms of Failure to Thrive in Infants

• Height, weight, and head circumference smaller than the standard
• Poor sucking
• Delay in physical skills
• Delay in social and mental skills
• Immobility
• Stiff or “floppy” muscles
• Weak cry
• Unresponsiveness
• Irritability
• Delay in secondary sexual characteristics (during adolescence)

Causes of Failure to Thrive

Failure to thrive can be caused by medical issues or environmental factors. The following are the causes that contribute to the FTT condition:

1. Medical Causes of Failure to thrive

• Chromosomal abnormalities
• Major organ system defects
• Congenital digestive system disorders
• Problems with the endocrine system and other hormone deficiencies
• Brain defects
• Food intolerance
• Heart and lung problems
• Metabolic Disorders
• Blood-related issues
• Chronic infections
• Complications during pregnancy
• Lack of digestive enzymes
• Cerebral palsy

2. Other causes

• Inadequate intake – due to economic problem, poverty or poor eating habit
• Physical abuse
• Neglect – not enough food is being offered to the infant; this may be due to breastfeeding problems, errors in milk formula measurements, financial constraints or problems with transitioning from strictly milk feedings to solid foods
• Loss of emotional bond between parent and infant
• Child-caregiver relationship issues such as abuse
• Mental trauma
• Parasitic disease, or exposure to other infections such as tuberculosis

Treatment of Failure to Thrive in Infants

Nutritional rehabilitation is the main concern of the treatment. It should be emphasized that immediate management of acute problems such as dehydration, shock, sepsis and others must first be addressed.

• Achievement of ideal weight for height and correction of nutritional deficiencies
• Allowance for catch up growth
• Optimum body composition restoration
• Parental awareness in child feeding and nutritional requirement.

Failure to Thrive Infant Nursing Diagnosis

Possible Infant Failure to Thrive Nursing Diagnosis

• Imbalanced Nutrition: Less than body requirements related to low calorie intake of the infant
• Deficient fluid volume related to inadequate oral intake of the infant
• Disturbed Sensory Perception
• Constipation related to dehydration
• Impaired Parenting related to the lack of knowledge and parenting skills
• Anxiety of the parent or caregiver related to situational crisis of FTT
• Risk for Dehydration
• Risk for Impaired Skin Integrity related to poor nutrition
• Ineffective Coping of the parent or caregiver

Assessment

Planning and Intervention

Monitoring

To determine the efficacy of the intervention, the following must be obtained:

• Achievement of ideal weight for height
• Nutritional deficiencies corrected
• Catch up growth allowance achieved
• Optimum body composition restored
• Improved parental awareness in child feeding and nutritional requirement

Documentation

One of the most important steps for caring FTT is documentation. It provides insights that will serve as guidance to make formative decisions. Additionally, it will give information if there are improvements of patient’s condition. Documentation of the following information must be taken into consideration:

• Taking notes of the symptoms and perception of the patient
• Daily food diary
• Intake of calorie
• Fluid intake
• Results of laboratory examinations
• Fluid balance
• Changes in weight
• Presence of edema
• Vital signs
• Urine specific gravity
• Financial status of the family
• Parenting skill level
• Religious and cultural restrictions
• Developmental stages
• Plan of care
• Teaching plan
• Actions performed
• Intervention responsiveness
• Outcome progress
• Plan of care modifications

All young children who are diagnosed with FTT, whether primarily organic or psychosocial in origin, suffer from serious malnutrition and are at high risk to develop long term physical and psychological developmental problems.

It is not enough to know the FTT classification type of the patient. The approach must also involve nutritional, developmental and psychosocial influences.

Nursing References

Ackley, B. J., Ladwig, G. B., Makic, M. B., Martinez-Kratz, M. R., & Zanotti, M. (2020). Nursing diagnoses handbook: An evidence-based guide to planning care. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. Buy on Amazon

Gulanick, M., & Myers, J. L. (2022). Nursing care plans: Diagnoses, interventions, & outcomes. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. Buy on Amazon

Ignatavicius, D. D., Workman, M. L., Rebar, C. R., & Heimgartner, N. M. (2020). Medical-surgical nursing: Concepts for interprofessional collaborative care. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. Buy on Amazon

Silvestri, L. A. (2020). Saunders comprehensive review for the NCLEX-RN examination. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. Buy on Amazon

Disclaimer:

Please follow your facilities guidelines, policies, and procedures.

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes.

This information is intended to be nursing education and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.

Anna Curran. RN-BC, BSN, PHN, CMSRN I am a Critical Care ER nurse. I have been in this field for over 30 years. I also began teaching BSN and LVN students and found that by writing additional study guides helped their knowledge base, especially when it was time to take the NCLEX examinations.