A system-wide initiative to prevent retained vaginal sponges

As any perinatal nurse knows, retained vaginal sponges are an obstetrical and postpartum patient safety problem. As surgical sponge counts are not routine in some obstetrical units for vaginal births, our healthcare system chose to institute a rigorous process to eliminate retained sponges in all vaginal births. This article describes this process, along with the lessons learned, when Catholic Healthcare West implemented the Sponge ACCOUNTing System in its 32 hospitals in California, Arizona, and Nevada. Implementation of this process involved the standardization of practice for obstetricians, certified nurse midwives, nurses, obstetric technicians, radiologists, and radiology technicians in the management and accounting of surgical sponges.