Promoting Women's Health One Sponge at a Time : Professional Issues

Pass rates were compared with the NCC national

average: 2008 71% and 2009 76% (2010 results

are not yet available). Our review course and study

materials are e¡ective in attaining higher pass re-

sults than the national average.

Implications for Nursing Practice

By standardizing the competence level of all nurses

within a system, consistency in interpretation and

communication of EFM tracings will improve, there-

by reducing risk and liability.

Development of the West Michigan Regional

Perinatal Nurse Network

Poster Presentation

Purpose for the Program

Collaboration is frequently discussed in health

care articles and the bene¢ts are well vali-

dated. The West Michigan Regional Perinatal

Nurses Network (WMRPNN ) was created to re-

frame the concept of collaboration from a one-way

directional model of sharing (tertiary care center

out to the regional facilities) into a teamwork model.

Before the development of theWMRPNN, structured

collaboration between perinatal nurses within the

same geographical location was not supported.

Proposed Change

In 2001, the Institute of Medicine report highlighted the

need for health care collaboration across disciplines

and agencies. The trend of increasingly complex pa-

tients and decreasing resources presents a challenge

for perinatal nurses to meet the diverse needs of their

communities. This is particularly true for rural and

subspecialty hospitals that may have limited re-

sources. This presentation will highlight the bene¢ts

and the rationale for developing theWMRPNN.

Implementation, Outcomes, and Evaluation

Collaboration and partnerships provide a pro¢cient

process for developing programs and sharing of

intellectual property among geographically contig-

uous hospitals. Members meet quarterly to discuss

current issues, ideas, and gain valuable education.

Members network with each other, identifying ways

to enhance nursing practice thereby improving the

health and well-being of neonates, families, and re-

spective communities. As future communication

technologies are developed, WMRPNN plans to

evaluate and implement necessary changes while

maintaining the spirit of face-to-face interactions.


The WMRPNN provides an environment for consul-

tation, continuing education, and outreach. When

information gained from these meetings is imple-

mented in the respective individual institutions, the

community bene¢ts from the collaboration by hav-

ing parents who are better equipped to care for

their newborns.

Promoting Women’s Health One Sponge at a Time

Poster Presentation


The nurses at Baylor University Medical Center

identi¢ed an improvement area promoting the

health and safety of patients. In 2005, The Joint

Commission (TJC) added unintended retention of

foreign objects (RFOs) in patients after surgery or

other procedure as a reviewable sentinel event. A

need was recognized to create best practice for

prevention of unintended RFOs during a vaginal de-

livery. A policy was developed and implemented for

vaginal deliveries to create a safer environment.

Proposed Change

Nurses developed a process designed to prevent

the unintended retention of a foreign object in a pa-

tient undergoing a vaginal delivery. Implementation

steps included establishing a policy for vaginal

count in labor & delivery, changing the current

charting system to include vaginal counts, and edu-

cating/training all sta¡.

Debra Lynn Rewerts, BSN,

RNC, Metro Health Hospital,

Wyoming, MI

Gail Leeann Heathcote, RNC,

NFPP, MSN, CNM, Spectrum

Health Hospital, Grand

Rapids, MI

Keywordscollaborationpartnerships

Professional

Issues

Diana Rich, BSN, RNC-OB,

Labor and Delivery, Baylor

University Medical Center,

Dallas, TX

Kelli Bural, BSN, RNC-OB,

EFM-C, Labor and Delivery,

Baylor University Medical

Center, Dallas, TX

S70 JOGNN, 40, S2-S84; 2011. DOI: 10.1111/j.1552-6909.2011.01242.x http://jognn.awhonn.org

I N N O V A T I V E P R O G R A M S

Proceedings of the 2011 AWHONN Convention


The process began by recognizing the need to pro-

mote patient safety in women’s health, prevent

unintended RFO during vaginal deliveries and

to provide an accurate count of sponges and/or

needles used before/after vaginal deliveries. A pre-

liminary policy was developed for RFOprevention in

vaginal deliveries. This policy was presented to a

select group of physicians willing to participate and

champion a pilot study. Basic changes to the chart-

ing package were made, and education was rolled

out to the nursing sta¡. A 4 week pilot study was im-

plemented. Utilizing results from the pilot study,

additional changes to the charting system were

made and the vaginal sponge count policy was ¢-

nalized and adapted by the Baylor Health Care

System. Random audits continue to take

place to help identify process improvements or

changes.


Nursing’s involvement spanned the inception of this

project to current implementation.The pilot study in-

corporated nurses participating in the counting

process at delivery. Suggestions from sta¡ helped

to ¢ne tune the process and lead to policy develop-

ment. As with any change process, we had

challenges implementing vaginal sponge counts at

our facility. Counting in a vaginal delivery was for-

eign to most of our sta¡. To explain the importance

of this process we equated it to counts in the oper-

ating room. Once we had sta¡ buy-in, sta¡ led the

changes that occurred in our documentation sys-

tem and policy development/implementation. They

also participated in the audit process during our

trial. Although counting in the delivery room did

not increase workload, it was a process change for

nurses and physicians. Sta¡ input helped to bal-

ance patient safety with practicality and e⁄ciency.

Managing the Information Overload

Poster Presentation


With just a few taps on a computer keyboard,

there is no shortage of health-related data

available today. Despite the bene¢ts of having in-

stant access to vast amounts of medical-related

information, these resources have created confu-

sion and concern for many individuals as they

attempt to separate fact from ¢ction. Information

overload presents the potential for making poor

health decisions. This has become a new and

pressing problem for health care providers.

Proposed Change

In an ongoing e¡ort to help individuals home in on

accurate and relevant data, leading health care

providers are employing web-based communica-

tion systems. In addition to delivering pertinent

information, web-based campaigns strengthen pa-

tient relations and customer loyalty by delivering

information quickly and through a medium that

most patients prefer. According to the Journal of

General Internal Medicine, 67% to 78% of U.S.

adults have Internet access, 90% of whom prefer

to communicate with their physicians electronically.

Of those that prefer to communicate with their phy-

sicians electronically, 56% say it would in£uence

their choice of physician.


Recognizing a need for patients to have a single,

trusted source from which they receive factual, health-

related information, we in the Department of Obstetrics

and Gynecology at the University of Virginia Health

System sought a solution. Initially intended as a means

toprovide expectingandnewmothers with information

speci¢c to theirgestational andpostbirth development,

the hospital’s use of an electronic communication

platform has evolved to include broader patient com-

munication. The e⁄ciencies gained using the system

have also provided some surprising cost savings.

Our communication service allowed us to quickly and

easily provide patients with factual information during

the H1N1epidemic earlier this year.We continually use

it to promote classes and events andno longer need to

invest in brochures. We like that it is £exible, e⁄cient,

¢scally responsible, and green. But what is most valu-

able is that our younger patients, GenerationY, antici-

pate, expect, and prefer to receive their information

electronically. They want a £uid interface that provides

them the ability to click and be registered for a class or

e-mail or ask a question and get a prompt response.


From our experience, we believe patients and health

care facilities can truly bene¢t fromaweb-based com-

munication solution that o¡ers regular, automatic,

developmentally appropriate content e-mails and

e-campaigns.

Keywordsvaginal sponge countretained foreign objectpolicy developmentsafety

Professional

Issues

Diane Sampson, MA, LCCE,

IBCLC, Department of Obste-

trics and Gynecology,

University of Virginia Medical

Center, Charlottesville, VA

Keywordsonline health informationonline communicationeducationelectronic communicationfluid patient/provider

interfacefiscally responsible

communications

Professional

Issues

JOGNN 2011; Vol. 40, Supplement 1 S71

Sampson, D. I N N O V A T I V E P R O G R A M S

Proceedings of the 2011 AWHONN Convention

Documents

Promoting Women's Health One Sponge at a Time : Professional Issues