St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center launched a specialized training program aimed at increasing the survival rate and optimizing the developmental outcome for pre-term and at-risk newborns, called Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP).

St. Joseph is listed as the only specialized training center of its kind in Arizona and one of only 20 other training facilities worldwide.

NIDCAP is the standard of care required for all Level III Nursery Intensive Care Units (NyICUs) worldwide.

"NIDCAP and St. Joseph's recognize the importance of the family in the development and wellbeing of the infant," says Andrea Sharfner, BSN, RN, manager of St. Joseph's NyICU. "Neurological development is a major emphasis of NIDCAP training and our trainers are fortunate to have St. Joseph's Barrow Neurological Institute as a resource."

The new training center, which opened on April 26, allows St. Joseph's to assess and train other Level III NyICUs in the comprehensive approach to infant care which focuses on the individual strengths and needs of each infant and family. St. Joseph's NIDCAP trainers will travel throughout the country to teach this care approach

Sharfner says that hospitals and NyICUs that use NIDCAP show enhanced brain structure and function, shorter hospital stay, better weight gain, and improved behavioral outcomes in infancy and beyond.