This comprehensive checklist template is designed to guide the onboarding of infection prevention professionals through the essential steps, knowledge areas, and ongoing responsibilities required to effectively manage and prevent infections within healthcare facilities.

APIC and IPAC Canada partnered on the creation of a new resource to help healthcare professionals work through ethical issues that arise in infection prevention and control (IPC) and assist in making complex decisions.

This toolkit is a comprehensive resource designed to empower healthcare professionals in promoting hand hygiene practices among patients with extensive research into guidelines, barriers, interventions, and tools across various healthcare settings.

Our goal with the Research Toolkit is to help you elevate and transform your everyday work into a journey that develops your essential research competencies (benefiting you), generates publishable new knowledge that is shared with the rest of the IP and healthcare community (benefiting and promoting your organization), and advances the science of infection prevention to improve patient care (benefiting the field).

This toolkit provides a variety of practical resources, networks, strategies, and tips for IPs working in isolated contexts, in any healthcare setting, to develop and sustain effective infection prevention and control (IPC) programs and connect with other IPs who can help them launch, navigate, and grow careers as IPs.

The purpose of this implementation guide is to provide information and tools to reduce the risk of infection due to catheter-associated bloodstream infections in various practice settings for adults. It condenses evidence-based guidelines into key elements needed to mitigate risks and implement performance improvement processes. The implementation guide includes recommendations intended to be achievable and to represent what are believed to be effective strategies to prevent healthcare-associated infections. These recommendations may guide the development of policies, procedures, and protocols for promoting performance improvement in various practice settings.

This implementation guide provides key tools and evidence-based strategies to reduce infection risks from indwelling urinary catheters. It condenses guidelines into actionable elements for risk mitigation and performance improvement, supporting policy and protocol development across practice settings.

This guide replaces the 2010 version and includes the fundamentals for understanding kidney disease, standard and transmission-based precautions, and best practices for keeping hemodialysis patients safe from infection. The guide includes information on peritoneal dialysis, home dialysis, special population and emergency preparedness for dialysis settings.

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a frequent complication of surgical care and are associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and cost. The infection preventionist (IP) has an important role in SSI prevention beyond SSI surveillance. To support IPs in this role, APIC has developed Infection Preventionist’s Guide to the OR, which covers critical and evidence-based strategies to equip the IP in working collaboratively with multi-disciplinary teams to prevent SSIs.

This implementation guide outlines practices that are core to central line-associated bloodstream infection prevention efforts, demonstrates application through associated tools and resources, and provides information that augments existing evidence-based guidelines. Chapter topics include:

• Epidemiology and Pathogenesis
• Surveillance
• Adherence to the Central Line Bundle
• Preventing Infections during Catheter Maintenance
• Preventing Infection during Long-Term Device Use

The purpose of this guide is to provide an overview of hand hygiene programs and their key components. In addition to a valuable Resources section, chapters include topics such as:

• Regulatory oversight and public reporting
• Hand Hygiene products
• Hand Hygiene monitoring
• Program implementation
• Strategies for Behavior change

This newly revised Guide provides infection preventionists with new and expanded content on preventing CAUTI, including:

• Expanded content on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of CAUTI, surveillance, and reporting
• New content addresses patient safety, CUSP, and other behavioral models for prevention
• New content on CAUTI prevention in special populations: pediatrics, spinal cord injury, long-term care, and ICU
• More than twice the number of figures, tables and other examples compared to 2008 edition
• New case studies showcase success stories

Best practices for IPs and anyone who cares for patients with C. difficile or in facilities with patients who are being treated for C. difficile infections (CDI). Includes:

• Pathogenesis and changing epidemiology of CDI
• Diagnosis and surveillance
• Prevention strategies including hand hygiene and environmental controls
• Special considerations for skilled nursing and pediatrics
• Antimicrobial stewardship
• Emerging technologies and therapies
• Tools and additional resources

Provides an overview of infection prevention best practices for emergency medical services (EMS) system responders. Includes:

• The role of infection prevention in patient and EMS system responder safety
• Infection prevention standards, regulations, and best practices applicable to EMS setting
• Overview of epidemiology and pathogenesis of communicable diseases in EMS setting
• Instruction, examples, and tools to perform surveillance, develop an exposure control plan with post-exposure management, and conduct risk assessments
• Emergency, disaster, and bioterrorism preparedness
• Forms and templates for infection prevention education, training, and compliance monitoring

Practice guidance for the elimination of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission in hospital settings, including:

• MRSA risk assessment
• MRSA surveillance methodology
• Environmental and equipment decontamination
• Best practice recommendations
• Antimicrobial stewardship
• Antibiogram development and laboratory testing
• MRSA decolonization

Summary of the latest studies, outbreak experiences, applicable guidelines, and tools to manage and eliminate transmission of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR Ab) in healthcare settings:

• Risk assessment
• Surveillance
• Antibiotic stewardship/antibiograms
• Standard precautions
• Transmission-based precautions
• Outbreak recognition and control
• Special settings

Practical tools, strategies, and resources for infection preventionists, care providers, surgical staff and quality improvement teams; developed with the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN):

• Surveillance
• Outcome reports
• Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) value-based purchasing
• Preoperative preparation
• Perioperative settings
• Postoperative periods

Comprehensive strategies for eliminating MRSA across the entire spectrum of long-term care (LTC) facilities:

• Risk assessment
• Surveillance cultures
• Management of MRSA-positive residents
• Standard/contact precautions
• Environmental and equipment cleaning and disinfection
• Antimicrobial management and stewardship in LTC
• Colonization and decolonization

Created to provide California-based hospitals and other healthcare providers with the most recent scientific and regulatory information, including:

• Current California MRSA guidelines
• Local or county guidelines
• Reporting requirements
• Legislative mandates
• Licensing and certification requirements

Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) are an effective infection control intervention used to reduce the transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in skilled long-term care nursing facilities. This practice guidance tool outlines when EBP should be implemented for residents, provides infection control recommendations for routine care activities, and includes case study examples with a self-quiz to help reinforce learning.

This tool was designed to provide Infection Prevention and Control resources to Infection Preventionists in Long-Term Care settings. These resources can be utilized to develop site-specific policies, plans, and procedures within the Long-Term Care setting.

Wound care practices can differ significantly depending on the healthcare setting, often reflecting longstanding institutional policies. This joint document from APIC and WOCN aims to provide an evidence-based overview of the current literature, addressing the role of clean versus sterile techniques in optimizing wound healing and patient outcomes.

The Impact of Health Disparities on HAIs: A Call to Action examines how SDOH and systemic inequities influence HAIs. Compiled by the APIC Health Equity Committee, it highlights key barriers, resource limitations, unconscious bias, and data challenges while providing strategies to advance equity in infection prevention.

This document provides a comprehensive overview of key principles and challenges encountered in various behavioral healthcare settings, including outpatient facilities and inpatient units. With a focus on enhancing awareness, it aims to empower Infection Preventionists to effectively address concerns among both patients and staff.

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance safe and effective technology to improve health. AAMI is a primary source of consensus standards, both national and international, for the medical device industry, as well as practical information, support, and guidance for healthcare technology and sterilization professionals. This document is intended to assist Infection Preventionists in selecting, interpreting, and utilizing advisory documents regarding processing medical devices and equipment.

USP <797>: Pharmaceutical Compounding—Sterile Preparations describes the minimum requirements that apply to all persons who prepare compounded sterile preparations (CSPs) and all places where CSPs are prepared. USP <797> has been revised for the first time since 2008, and the implementation date for the revision is November 1, 2023.

This White Paper provides general guidance for managing animals in healthcare. It includes a literature review, review of hospital policies, results of a survey on institutional policies on animals in healthcare and guidance to minimize infection risks associated with animals in healthcare. Specifically, animal assisted activity animals, service animals, research animals, and personal pet visitation are the focus.

Information and recommendations related to infection control risk with innappropriate use of pharmacy bulk packages of IV contrast materials.

The Compendium consolidates infection prevention research regarding six of the most common healthcare-associated infections: Clostridium difficile, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, central line-associated bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and surgical site infections. The Compendium was developed by a partnership of healthcare organizations.

Obtain immunization resources and read more on APIC’s position on influenza immunizations of healthcare personnel.

This checklist supports infection preventionists in managing PPE during emergencies and should be used only in disaster or public health emergency scenarios, not for routine needs. For comprehensive emergency management planning, refer to additional APIC resources.