Turkish nurse awarded for newborn project in US

By Zehra Melek Cat

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Turkish nurse was honored with best research award for a project on the painless aspiration of the newborn in the U.S.

Ebru Temizsoy -- a newborn intensive care unit nurse at an Istanbul hospital -- and her research team of three nurses and two doctors developed a non-traumatic aspiration method for the newborn.

The project was honored with Research Abstract Award by National Association of Neonatal Nurses following its 34th annual conference in California between October 17 and 20, Temizsoy told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

"Babies suffer so much pain in aspiration, this pain can be as intense as that of circumcision. Our research was about minimizing the pain and preventing other complications,” Temizsoy said.

Temizsoy said that aspiration is traumatic and painful for the newborn, and may cause bleeding but the non-traumatic aspiration technique reduces the pain.

“In our study, we applied a technique without touching the mouth and nose mucosa during the aspiration. The practice didn’t cause any bleeding or pain,” Temizsoy said.

The Turkish team joined the congress with two other projects on the newborn breast feeding and the effect of mother’s voice on the baby’s pain.

The 2018 winners were announced on the National Association of Neonatal Nurses website on November 14.