By: Erik Pedersen, Content Strategy Director
BALTIMORE – An associate professor in Notre Dame of Maryland University’s School of Nursing recently wrapped up a month-long stay in Izmir, Turkey, where she assisted a team of nurse researchers providing training to benefit survivors of intimate partner violence.
Dr. Tina Bloom, the Frances Kay Pitts ’96 Endowed Chair for Nursing Leadership in Women’s and Children’s Health, worked with nursing colleagues at Ege University on a project funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, an organization comparable to the National Institute of Health in the United States. The group organized weekly training and certification sessions to healthcare providers in Izmir, helping them understand, recognize, and respond to intimate partner violence, and subsequently connect abuse survivors to a variety of resources.
“As the World Health Organization and others have noted, healthcare providers are critically important and trusted sources of support,” said Dr. Bloom. “We aim to increase their capacity and empower them to make changes in the Turkish healthcare system to better support abuse survivors and improve their health and safety.”
Dr. Bloom’s role in the training focused on two topics: teaching attendees about trauma-informed care and empowering healthcare providers to promote systemic change.
“Trauma-informed care is a relatively new concept,” she said. “It centers around the idea that trauma is very common, and healthcare providers should assume that anyone could be a trauma survivor. Making the healthcare environment feel safer and more approachable for trauma survivors has been shown to have some really positive outcomes for patients.”
Dr. Bloom was introduced to the initiative by the project’s lead investigator, Dr. Rusen Ozturk, an associate professor at Ege University. The two met previously while Dr. Ozturk was completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Missouri, where Dr. Bloom previously worked.
“Dr. Bloom had been a very good mentor during my postdoc research, especially in areas related to this study,” said Dr. Ozturk. “Studies on planned training and curriculum are limited in our country, and we were fortunate to be able to utilize her expertise throughout the creation of this training content. Our program aims to increase the knowledge, attitudes and competencies of health professionals about violence, and it will be re-evaluated with follow-ups after three and six months.
“On behalf of the faculty, we would like to thank Dr. Bloom again for her many contributions,” Dr. Ozturk continued. “This project was only the beginning, and we hope that our collaboration will continue in the future.”
Izmir, with an estimated population of close to three million individuals, is the third-largest city in Turkey, while Ege University has over 65,000 students and is one of the largest schools in the nation. During her time in Izmir, Dr. Bloom additionally provided guest lectures in nursing courses and a faculty symposium on a variety of topics, including nursing safety issues in the United States, mental health and intimate partner violence, and intimate partner violence among elderly couples.
Violence against women has been Dr. Bloom’s primary area of research during her professional career. In addition to her work in Turkey, she is co-chair of the planning committee for the 25th annual Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International (NNVAWI) Conference, which will take place in Thailand this November. Dr. Bloom and the conference’s co-chair, Dr. Tipparat Udmuangpia, helped initiate a long-term collaborative partnership between NDMU and Thailand’s Praboromarajchanok Institute last spring.
At least two NDMU School of Nursing faculty members are expected to join Dr. Bloom at November’s NNVAWI conference, allowing for additional opportunities to collaborate with nurses from across the globe.
“I always tell my colleagues and my students that we have so many amazing opportunities to connect with nurses from around the world,” Dr. Bloom said. “One of the greatest gifts that nursing and research have given me is that opportunity to connect with nurses who are doing the same kind of work to help women and children. I’m very excited to have so many brilliant researchers come together in November to share what they have learned.”
Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.