Sharon Y Irving, PhD, CRNP, FCCM, FAAN, FASPEN

Sharon Y. Irving, PhD, CRNP, FCCM, FAAN, FASPEN

Associate Professor of Pediatric Nursing
Vice-Chair, Department of Family and Community Health

Chair, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Through my clinical practice, inquiry and program of research, I strive to improve clinical outcomes and enhance nutrient delivery for critically ill infants and children. This includes educating providers to the importance of good nutrition and providing such, to even the most critical pediatric patients.

Through my clinical practice, inquiry and program of research, I strive to improve clinical outcomes and enhance nutrient delivery for critically ill infants and children. This includes educating providers to the importance of good nutrition and providing such, to even the most critical pediatric patients.

Education

  • PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 2011
  • MSN, University of Pennsylvania, 1993
  • BSN, Marquette University, 1980

Teaching

Dr. Irving teaches in the undergraduate pediatric nursing course and guest lectures in the clinical tract of the school’s Pediatric Critical Care Nurse Practitioner Program. She also participates in the ongoing education of clinicians in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Research

As standing faculty on the Clinician Educator track, Dr. Irving uses her hands-on clinical experience to guide her research and uses insights from her research to inform clinical care delivery, particularly nutrition care delivery for critically ill infants and children at CHOP. In one project, for example, she is evaluating outcomes of the nutrition pathway, exploring questions such as: When in the course of illness is enteral nutrition (EN) initiated?, When and how well are target nutritional goals achieved in this population? and Is there a direct association between nutrient delivery and overall outcomes for critically ill pediatric patients?

Clinical Practice

Dr. Irving practices as a pediatric nurse practitioner at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where she provides patient care in the pediatric intensive care and pediatric progressive care units. She led a multi-disciplinary ICU-Pediatric Nutrition Team (ICU - PNuTs) in designing and implementing a nutrition pathway to improve the way infants and children receive nutrition during and immediately following critical illness. This pathway has been fundamental in identifying the need for similar feeding and nutrition initiatives at CHOP, targeting specific populations. The ICU-PNuT includes physicians, registered dieticians, advance practice and clinical nurses, and a clinical pharmacist.

Opportunities to Learn and Collaborate at Penn Nursing

Dr. Irving entered Penn Nursing as a graduate nursing student in 1991, and later returned to the PhD program in 2006. She joined the faculty in 2012. As Dr. Irving has experienced, Penn Nursing offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves in cutting-edge clinical practice. She mentors students in their research inquiry, quality improvement initiatives, and clinical work.

Selected Career Highlights

  • Fellow of American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 2021
  • Distinguished Nutrition Support Nurse, American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 2019
  • Fellow, American Academy of Nursing, 2016
  • Fellow, American College of Critical Care Medicine, Society of Critical Care Medicine, 2014
  • Distinguished Alumna in Service to Nursing Award, Marquette University, 2013
  • Dean’s Award for Exemplary Professional Practice, University of Pennsylvania, 2013

Accepting Mentees?

  • Yes

Accepting Fellows?

  • No

Selected Publications

  • Lisanti, M.J., Savoca, M., Gaynor, J.W., Mascarenhas, M.R., Ravishankar, C., Sullivan, E., Pieciak, K., Costarino, A., Chen, J., Kennedy, A., Olsen, R., Min, J., Mondal, A., Huang, J., Irving, S.Y. (2020). Standardized feeding approach mitigates weight loss in infants with Congenital Heart Disease. The Journal of Pediatrics, [Online ahead of print] Dec 23; S0022-3476(20)31557-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.12.047.

  • Mechanick, J.I., Carbone, S., Dickerson, R.N., Hernandez, B.J., Hurt, R.T., Irving, S.Y., Li, D., McCarthy, M.S., Mogensen, K.M., Ochoa, J., Patel, J.J., Prewitt, T.E., Rosenthal, M., Warren, M., Winkler, M.F., McKeever, L. (2020). Clinical Nutrition Research and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review of the ASPEN COVID-19 Nutrition Taskforce. JPEN Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 45(1):13-31. doi: 10.1002/jpen.2036. Epub 2020 Oct 23.

  • Srinivasan, V., Hasbani, N.R., Mehta, N.M., Irving, S.Y., Kandil, S.B., Allen, H.C., Typpo, K.V., Cvijanovich, N.Z., Faustino, E.V., Wypij, D., Agus, M.S.D., Nadkarni, VM., Half-Pint Study Investigators. (2020). Early enteral nutrition is associated with improved clinical outcomes in critically ill children: a secondary analysis of nutrition support in the Heart and Lung Failure-Pediatric Insulin Titration (HALF-PINT) Trial. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, 21(3):213-221. doi: 10.1097/PCC.0000000000002135. Epub 2019 Oct 2.

  • Irving, S.Y., Daly B., Verger, J., Typpo, K.V., Brown, AM., Hanlon, A., Weiss, SL., Fitzgerald, J.C., Nadkarni, V.M., Thomas, N.J., Srinivasan, V., Sepsis Prevalence, Outcomes, and Therapies (SPROUT) Study Investigators and Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI) Network. (2018). The association of nutrition status expressed as body mass index z-score with outcomes in children with sepsis: A secondary analysis from the sepsis prevalence, outcomes and therapies (SPROUT) study. Critical Care Medicine, 46(11):e1029-e1039. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000003351. Epub 2018 Aug 7.

  • Matula, S.T., Polomano, R., Irving, S.Y. (2018). The state of the science in pediatric pain management practices in low-middle income countries (LMIC): An integrative review. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 24(6):e12695. Epub 2018 Sep 26. doi:10.1111/ijn.12695.

  • Irving, S.Y., Rempel, G., Lyman, B., Sevilla, W.M., Northington, L., Guenter, P., The American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. (2018). Pediatric Nasogastric Tube Placement and Verification: Best practice recommendations from the NOVEL project. Nutrition in Clinical Practice,33(6):921-927. doi: 10.10002/ncp.10189. Epub 2018 Sep 6.

  • Karsch, E., Irving, S.Y., Aylward, B.S., Mahle, W.T. (2017). The prevalence and effects of aspiration among neonates at time of discharge. Cardiology in the Young. [Epub ahead of print] 2017 Feb 6. doi: 10.1017/S104795111600278X.

  • Mehta, N.M., Skillman, H.E., Irving, S.Y., Coss-Bu, J., Vermilyea, S., Farrington, E.A., McKeever, L., Hall, A.M., Goday, P.S., Braunschweig, C. (2017). Guidelines for the provision and assessment of nutrition support therapy in the pediatric critically ill patient: Society of Critical Care Medicine and American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, 18(7): 675-715. doi: 10.1097/PCC.0000000000001134. Note: Dual publication. JPEN Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. (2017). Jul; 41(5):706-742. doi: 10.1177/0148607117711387. Epub 2 Jun 2017.

View all publications

Related Stories

Cupcakes for Inductees

December 2022 Induction

On December 7, 2022, Xi Chapter inducted a new cohort of members. Welcome and congratulations! The recording of the virtual ceremony is now available. The ceremony featured an address by Dr. Sharon Irving titled Learning to PIVOT: Foundations of Frontline Nursing. 

Read MoreDecember 2022 Induction
March 9, 2023The photographs accompanying this story document a day in the life of a critical care team at the Penn Presbyterian Medical ...

A Critical Role

Critical care unit patients teetering on the edge of life and death need the best on their side. The urgency of these high-stakes environments requires nurses who have been prepared to be highly responsive critical-thinkers, with tremendous attention to detail and aptitude for an ever-evolving discipline. Read on to learn why Penn Nursing-educated nurses have the advantage and how Penn Nursing has shaped, and continues to lead, the profession.

Read MoreA Critical Role