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

Antibiotics save lives

Improve Antibiotic Use to Combat Antibiotic Resistance

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

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

Discover free, on-the-go resources and risk assessment tools to help prevent health care acquired infections, from ANA Project Firstline.

Infection Control Assessment Tool for Hemodialysis Facilities

Water Infection Control Risk Assessment Tool

C. diff

Find important information and free resources on how to prevent healthcare acquired C. Difficile infections, brought to you by Project Firstline and ANA.

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)

Sepsis

Find important information and free resources on how to prevent healthcare acquired sepsis, brought to you by Project Firstline and ANA.

What is 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.

Protect your patients from Sepsis

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 infecti...