promoting women's health one sponge at a time : professional issues
TRANSCRIPT
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.
Implications for Nursing Practice
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
Purpose for the Program
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
Implementation, Outcomes, and Evaluation
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.
Implications for Nursing Practice
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
Purpose for the Program
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.
Implementation, Outcomes, and Evaluation
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.
Implications for Nursing Practice
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