Healthcare-Associated Infections

Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) are infections that patients get while receiving treatment for medical or surgical conditions. HAIs occur in all settings of care, including hospitals, surgical centers, ambulatory clinics, and long-term care facilities such as nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. Some patients are at greater risk than others-young children, the elderly, and persons with compromised immune systems are more likely to get an infection. Other risk factors are long hospital stays, the use of indwelling catheters, failure of healthcare workers to wash their hands, and overuse of antibiotics. Understanding warning signs, preventative measures, and operational best practices are crucial to infection prevention for nurses in their healthcare setting.

Antibiotic Stewardship

Measuring and improving how antibiotics are prescribed by clinicians and used by patients to effectively treat infections, protect patients from harm caused by unnecessary antibiotic use, and combat antibiotic resistance.

Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship

IMPROVING ANTIBIOTIC USE

Antibiotics save lives

DO YOU NEED ANTIBIOTICS?

HOW ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE HAPPENS

Improve Antibiotic Use to Combat Antibiotic Resistance

What is antibiotic resistant bacteria?

Do I really need antibiotics?

Can I feel better without antibiotics?

Viruses or Bacteria What's got you sick

Be Antibiotics Aware: Infections

Antibiotic Resistance Occurs When

Side Effects of Antibiotics

Making Health Care Safer

Combating Antibiotic Resistance: Antibiotic Use

Combating Antibiotic Resistance: Infection Prevention & Control

Combating Antibiotic Resistance: Environment & Sanitation

Combating Antibiotic Resistance: Tracking & Data

Combating Antibiotic Resistance: Vaccines, Therapeutics & Diagnostics

Antibiotics Aren’t Always The Answer

Fighting a Global Threat: CDC & Partners Combat Antibiotic Resistance

The Right Tool

Implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship Activities in Critical Access Hospitals

CDC’s Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship

2019 NHSN Training - Antibiotic Stewardship

Risk Assessment Tools

Intervention Cost Calculator

Deferred Admissions and Reimbursement Tool

Mortality Attribution Tool

Hospital-Acquired Conditions Expenditures Tool

Infection Control Assessment Tool for Acute Care Hospitals

Infection Control Assessment Tool for Long-Term Care Facilities

Infection Control Assessment Tool for Outpatient Settings

Infection Control Assessment Tool for Hemodialysis Facilities

Water Infection Control Risk Assessment Tool

C. diff

Clostridioides difficile

The Progression of a C. diff Infection

Clinical Practice Guidelines for Clostridium difficile Infection in Adults and Children: 2017 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA)

C. diff Guidelines and Prevention Resources

Clostridioides difficile Infection

Hand Hygiene, Glove Use, and Preventing Transmission of C. difficile

C. diff (Clostridioides difficile)

HAI Basics

Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI)

Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI)

Surgical Site Infection (SSI)

Ventilator-associated Pneumonia (VAP)

Reference Guide for Diseases and Organisms in Health Care Settings

Environmental Cleaning Evaluation Worksheet

Health Care Facility Water Management Program Checklist

Checklist for Prevention of Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections

Norovirus in Health Care Facilities Fact Sheet

Norovirus Infection Control Recommendations

HAI Prevention Toolkits

Sepsis

What is Sepsis?

It’s Time to Talk About Sepsis

Protect Yourself and Your Family from Sepsis

How to Get Ahead of Sepsis

Diagnosis and Treatment of Sepsis

Hospital Toolkit for Adult Sepsis Surveillance

Early Sepsis Recognition for Nurses

Think sepsis. Time matters.

Sepsis happens when...

Protect your patients from Sepsis

Sepsis Protection Pocket Guide

Signs and Symptoms of Sepsis

MRSA

What is MRSA?

MRSA in a Health Care Setting

Cleaning and Disinfecting for MRSA

MRSA Skin Infections Fact Sheet

Outpatient Management of SSTIs in the Era of Community-Associated MRSA

The Project Firstline program is a national training collaborative led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in partnership with ANA and the American Academy of Pediatrics, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity.

Want to learn more about Project Firstline? Contact ProjectFirstline@ana.org

Project Firstline is a national collaborative led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide infection control training and education to frontline health care workers and public health personnel. ANA is proud to partner with Project Firstline, as supported through Cooperative Agreement CDC-RFA-OT18-1802. CDC is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this webpage do not necessarily represent the policies of CDC or HHS and should not be considered an endorsement by the Federal Government.

As a key partner in this initiative, ANA is pleased to help bring critical training opportunities and resources to better equip all nurses with the tools necessary to provide optimal patient care in a safe environment. Placement of content on this website is not an endorsement of the source nor of any particular product or service, nor should it be construed as a statement that the source, or its products or services, are superior to those of any others. ANA and/or Project Firstline may not be the primary source of the content on this website. While we make every effort to provide up-to-date relevant content, resources or information may not have been updated yet to include recent changes, new findings, recommendations, or protocols.