Research SIG Events 2021

Research Seminar Series "Experiencing Research" Presentations

The aim of this initiative is to facilitate increased awareness of current research, and provide an avenue for neonatal nurses to contribute to neonatal research and clinical practice change. Come along to our regular Research SIG meeting and spend the first 30 mins listening to the experience of researchers. Meet and speak with our inspiring presenters! You will hear from researchers with outstanding track records, and as well from novice researchers just starting their careers. Explore and learn more that you ever thought possible! Presentations occur via Zoom.  

Thursday 23 September 2021

Time: commencing at 7 pm (Sydney time)
Title: Implications and strategies for treating newborn brain damage
Presentation Overview: Of the 300,000+ babies born in Australia each year, most experience a healthy delivery. However, for some complications can arise that can have profound implications for healthy brain development. Birth asphyxia – when the brain is starved of oxygen and blood around the time of birth – is the second leading cause of infant death and the leading cause of neonatal seizures in newborn babies around the world. Despite poor brain outcomes and life-long neurological disability in survivors, relatively few therapies or diagnostic tools have reached the neonatal ICU. The implementation of hypothermia treatment for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) has resulted in record levels of survival, however 1 in 4 babies are still at significant risk of cerebral palsy, epilepsy and motor and intellectual impairment. It is clear that additional strategies are needed for the management of (HIE) to improve outcomes for this patient population.
Presenter: Dr Tracey Bjorkman is a Senior Research Fellow and Group Leader at the Perinatal Research Centre and UQ Centre for Clinical Research. Her lab focuses on identifying and optimising neuroprotective therapies to treat newborn brain damage resulting from birth asphyxia, fetal growth restriction and premature birth. Her research group aims to understand brain injury processes and to evaluate potential strategies to support clinical care of the newborn and to develop tools to inform diagnosis and assessment. The Perinatal Research Centre is widely recognised for the large pre-clinical neonatal animal models which allow direct translation of research outcomes into clinical practice - this animal model played a key role in the implementation of therapeutic hypothermia into neonatal ICUs worldwide for the treatment of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
Cost: Free for members; $20 for non-members
Registration: Registration is now closed. Zoom logon details have been sent. If not received, please email eso@acnn.org.au or contact us through Facebook messenger. 

Accessing Recorded Virtual presentations

Available to members only. Please follow the following steps.   

• Click on Member Login or Members Area (top right of page)
• Login
• Select Educational Presentations

Thursday 22 July 2021
Topic: “This is how we roll: a retrospective audit of positioning practices of extremely premature infants in the first
72 hours of life.”
Presenter: Hannah Skelton,  RN Research nurse on  the ‘Positioning Preterm Infants for Neuroprotection (PIN)’ pilot RCT study NICU Westmead Hospital, NSW, Australia.

Thursday 20 May 2021
Topic: “Timing of breast expression initiation in mothers of preterm infants: A pilot randomised controlled trial”
Presenter:  Presenter: Loretta Anderson, UQ PhD Candidate, Breastfeeding Coordinator , Mater Mothers Parenting Support Service. Casual Academic Nursing and Midwifery UQ.

Thursday 25 March 2021
Topic: Retrospective data analysis: A snapshot of time in the past.
Speaker: Emre Ilhan, PhD candidate. Physiotherapist and lecturer in the Department of Health Professions at Macquarie University.
Speaker bio sketch: Emre's PhD is looking at defining chronic pain in infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit using a consensus, prognostic, and statistical approach. Emre completed his PhD in collaboration with Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, a level 6 surgical NICU in the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

Thursday 26 November 2020
Title:  Safety and effectiveness of parent/nurse controlled analgesia on patient outcomes in the neonatal intensive care unit: a systematic review protocol.
Speaker: Renee Muirhead (PhD Candidate)
Speaker bio sketch:  Renee is a neonatal clinical nurse consultant, in Brisbane Australia with over 27 years clinical experience in neonatology and midwifery. She graduated in 1992 from the University of Newcastle, obtaining her first registered nurse position in the special care nursery at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children (RAHC) in Camperdown, NSW. During her time in Sydney, Renee completed her Graduate Certificate in Neonatology and her Graduate Diploma in Midwifery.   Renee then moved to the Mater Mothers’ Hospital Brisbane in 2001. Since that time many career opportunities have arisen for her including joining the retrieval team, research positions and several clinical positions. Renee is currently working in the CNC role. During this time, Renee has also completed her MN in Advanced practice and is currently enrolled in her PhD with the University of Queensland. Her passion is improving pain assessment and management of babies in the neonatal intensive care.

Thursday, 22 October, 2020
Title: Neonatal Pain Research: Improving pain management during painful procedures 
Speaker: Professor Denise Harrison
Speaker bio sketch: Denise recently moved from Ottawa, Canada, to take up a position as Professor of Nursing at the University of Melbourne. Before moving back to Melbourne, she had been working as the Chair in Nursing Care of Children, Youth and Families at the University of Ottawa and Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Canada since 2011.   Denise developed and leads the Be Sweet to Babies program of research which focuses on improving pain management for neonates, infants and young children in partnership with parents, clinicians, interdisciplinary researchers and students. Her research encompasses primary research (determining effective pain management strategies in sick and healthy infants and young children), knowledge synthesis (systematic reviews of interventions, as well as synthesis of YouTube videos) and knowledge translation, including exploring innovative ways to translate knowledge into clinical practice locally, nationally and globally. Her parent targeted YouTube videos show ease and effectiveness of performing heel lancing or venipuncture while babies are being breastfed, held skin-skin and given sucrose. Based on an assessment of barriers reported by nurses to using the evidence in clinical practice, her team went back to the drawing board and produced another video highlighting best ergonomics for performing heel lancing while the babies were being breastfed or held skin-skin. Denise now looks forward to establishing new and re-establishing existing partnerships after almost a decade in Ottawa, with the aim of improving outcomes for babies and their families.  

Thursday, 24 September 2020, 7:00 pm
Title: Designing Surveys in Health Research: Not as Simple as It Seems
Speaker: Associate Professor Samudragupta (Sam) Bora, Group Leader, Neurodevelopmental Follow-Up and Outcomes, Mater Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland
Virtual presentation: not available

Thursday 20 August, 2020
Our first presentation will be given by Jeewan Jyoti who is the currently undertaking the  Grace Clinical Neonatal Nursing Research Fellowship at Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, NSW. Topic: “Are Parents Aware and Involved in their Newborn’s Pain Management in Surgical NICU?”

• Improve neonatal outcomes through education and research, August 2019, Sydney
• Neonatal Nursing Workforce: Meeting the Challenges, June 2018, Sydney
• Guest Speakers:  Jacqui Cross – NSW Chief Nurse, Christine Duffield PhD, University of Technology Sydney/Edith Cowan University

^{Updated 20 April 2021}