• Assess medical needs and urgent care situations, providing medical intervention and advice to minimize unnecessary hospitalization and ER visits
• Assess developmental needs, and make referral and linkage to early intervention services and community resources
• Assess for barriers to appointments, and assist in coordinating access to appointments 
• Provides parent support, education, and advocacy for client and families to ensure optimal health outcomes

I started my nursing career at Neonatal Follow Up as a graduate student intern completing my Master’s of Science in Nursing from Samuel Merritt University, Oakland. I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences from UC Davis. I joined the NFU team in 2002, as a bilingual, bicultural practitioner, dedicated to serving the diverse families in Alameda County with complex medical, developmental, and psychosocial challenges. To support my work in the community, I have participated in Asian Service Provider workgroups, Harris Early Childhood Mental Health Training program, and also certified as a Child Passenger Safety Technician volunteering at hospital and community events. As a Bay Area native and lifelong resident, I am proud to be on a trans-disciplinary team serving the needs of this diverse community, supporting high-risk families with NICU babies through the lens of cultural understanding and awareness of the context of each individual family. This truly integrated approach at NFU to improve health outcomes, develop long-term relationships, and have a positive impact in the earliest stages of a child’s life has been the most professionally fulfilling in my career. 

I began my initial nursing career in 1983 working in Children’s Hospital NICU.  As a NICU Nurse this allowed me the opportunity to learn and develop many advanced practice skills in a variety of roles as a team leader, preceptor, charge nurse, transport nurse, ECMO specialist and Assistant Nurse Coordinator. After many years in the NICU I desired to expand my nursing knowledge therefore, in 1999 I transitioned to the Neonatal Follow-Up Program and returned to graduate school where I completed my Master’s of Science in Nursing Degree and Family Nurse Practitioner Certification from Samuel Merritt University. I continue to utilize my diversified advanced practice nursing skills in my role as a Nurse Clinician. The NFU Program is a unique program which allows me as a practitioner to provide care and intervention for our medically fragile infants and children who need specialized intensive medical, developmental, and psychosocial follow-up and to work with our dynamic multidisciplinary NFU staff. 

I am a passionate patient advocate. As a practitioner I bring a variety of experience to share with my patients and their families in a culturally sensitive manner. I am able to assist my families feel valued, respected, and comfortable with continuing to maintain medical care post discharge for their children. These components also allow them to develop patient advocacy and medical literacy for their child, hopefully for many years to come. 

I consider myself a native of the Bay Area, as my family immigrated here from Mexico the week that I turned 9 years of age. I lived in Oakland until I graduated from HS.  In 2000, I graduated from the University of South Florida, Tampa with my bachelor’s in nursing and returned to the Bay where I began my nursing career at Children’s Hospital Oakland.  By the end of 2001 I had my dream job working with families and babies as a home visitor for the Neonatal Follow-up Program.  I worked as a home visitor for six years and in 2009, I transitioned to the role of Clinic Coordinator for the High-Risk Infant Follow up Clinic.  In 2015, I transferred to the Orthopedic department with the intention of increasing my skill set and knowledge of long-term outcomes for the patients who start out with challenges, such as those who participate in both the Neonatal Follow-up and High-Risk Infant Follow-up clinics.  In 2022, I returned to the work I’m most passionate about that provides home visiting to babies and families living in a community that I’m very proud to be from.   As a Nurse Clinician, I am able to meet the patients/families wherever they find themselves: at their homes, medical appointments, in community settings such as the library or park, or social services offices.  As a bilingual, multicultural provider, I can address specific needs of the immigrant population from Mexico, Central and South America

I grew up in Richmond, California, and I am dedicated to giving back to my East Bay Community.  I earned an associate degree in nursing from City College of San Francisco, a bachelor's degree in nursing from Cal State East Bay, and a master's degree in nursing from University of San Francisco. The foundation of my nursing practice was built in Pediatric Rehabilitation where I devoted myself to helping children reach their highest level of function. My approach to pediatric nursing has always been centered around the whole child. I deeply value a multidisciplinary approach to addressing a child's cognitive, physical, developmental, social and emotional needs, supporting their families and caregivers, and engaging their community to foster the best possible outcomes. 

I am humbled and grateful to be a part of the Special Start team and I am passionate about providing this essential support to my community. 

As a pediatric dietitian with 7+ years of experience and an expertise in neonatal nutrition, I was excited to join the Special Start team in March 2020. I work closely with our case managers and families to ensure our patients receive the nutrition they need for optimal growth and development. I am passionate about helping our patients overcome nutritional challenges and feeding difficulties while fostering a positive parent-child feeding relationship. 

• Assists families, NFU staff, and other medical or community providers in coordination of PT/developmental services with available public and private community organizations.
• Offers bridge therapy for those infants found eligible for ongoing services with community agencies such as RCEB, and CCS MTU PT while awaiting initiation of those services.

Dr. Murphy Sims is a physical therapist and pediatric clinical specialist embedded in the neonatal follow-up and early childhood mental health teams at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. She is endorsed as an infant and early childhood mental health specialist, and reflective practice facilitator. She is a home visitor serving families with infants and young children with medical and developmental complexity, as well as providing supervision, consultation, and training.

I started at BCHO in 1991, and began working with the NFU program in 1998. Before I started at NFU, I had never worked in a home visiting program that focused on the physical, developmental, and emotional well-being of the baby and the family. Working at NFU has strengthened my understanding and appreciation of the importance of supporting caregivers so that they can support their children in the ways that are meaningful to them. I am still awed by the willingness of families to share their lives with us and the resiliency that is on display constantly as families navigate challenges. I am equally awed by the dedication of my colleagues to the families on whose behalf they work. The work is inspiring, challenging, and necessary. 

I started at NFU on February 1, 2000 after receiving a call from a Social Worker who was on staff asking me if I might be interested in interviewing for a position that was available.  Suffice it to say that I was offered the position and here I am 20 years later and still feeling tremendous gratification from the work that I do with primarily Spanish-speaking, recent immigrant babies and their families!  Helping families cope with the challenges that their medical fragility, socio-economic status, and ethnic identity bring them is very rewarding for me as I help in their growth and well-being on many levels - medical, developmental, social, and emotional!!

I am very grateful to be part of the Neonatal Follow Up/ Special Start Team. I came to CHO in 1998 to a position that was shared between the Parent Infant Program and NFU. I had been previously working as a Regional Center Case Manager since getting my MSW degree from San Francisco State University in 1988. I made a transition to working full time for Special Start in 2001. I am a bilingual Spanish speaker and I have been working with immigrants my entire career and find that there is still so much to learn! I enjoy advocating for clients and their families in the educational and public benefits settings. I completed the Harris infant Mental Health Training about 15 years ago. I really appreciate the Sociocultural approach that informs how we provide services to our families. I have enjoyed facilitating support groups for mothers of children with special needs, together with my colleague Martha Rea and for mothers in the Parent Infant Program. I appreciate all my very passionate hard working colleagues and continue to learn from them. I am also inspired by all the families with whom I have had the honor to work.

I began working at UBCHO after completing the hospitals Critical Care department internship. With great passion both personally and professional, I transitioned to the outpatient community home visiting early intervention program known as NFU. As a Clinical Social Worker, I utilize a client centered, culturally sensitive, relationship, and strength -based approach to provide on-going case management and crisis supportive services to NICU graduates. I assist families with navigating the medical system of care by providing home based supportive services to help decrease health disparities among vulnerable patients. I believe that providing access to supportive services for women and children is critical in ensuring that medical fragile babies receive quality medical care during and after discharge from the hospital. My educational background includes a master's degree in social work with a concentration in Community Mental Health and BS Degree in Health Science with a Pre-Clinical concentration from Cal State University East Bay in Hayward. 

It has been my great privilege to be the Manager of the NFU program, as well as a Clinical Social Worker with UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland since 2007.   I was drawn to this program because in my 25-year career, working in multiple states throughout the country in various medical centers, I had never seen anything as unique and impactful as the NFU team and their mission.   The children and families that graduate from our Neonatal Intensive Care units have done so with courage and strength.   But such an experience is traumatic, and families can be at their most vulnerable during this joyful but often frightening transition time from hospital to home.    Our staff support families through this transition and beyond.  As the Manager, my role is to help support our staff as they engage in this extraordinary work and ensure that it can continue for many years to come.

I have worked for our Special Start home visiting program and our Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic for NICU graduates since 1987. Working with families when they bring their babies home from the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery (NICU) is very rewarding. I have met families from all over the world, at a special time in their life when they first bring their baby home. After the NICU, parents are scared about their baby’s health and well-being, and receiving personal support from a health professional can make a big difference. When babies have complex medical needs, having an advocate that sees and knows all of the healthcare systems, government agencies, and the home care needs can make a big difference. I am grateful to our hospital and our great team of co-workers.

• Promote the caregiver-infant/toddler relationship using play-based themes   
• Identify referral/coordination of medical services, therapeutic evaluations, and/or other community organizations

I am an Office Associate for our Neonatal Follow Up /Special Start. 

I have been working at UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland for 13 years. Currently I oversee numerous tasks that help facilitate the amazing work our department provides to our 0-3 age group. I am also a Targeted Case Management specialist and I am and a Certified Medical Assistant that has worked in pediatrics for 12 years. I love what I do, and the amazing staff I work with and what our program stands for.