Essential IP Tools & Links

 

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Step right into the dazzling world of OSWAPIC Essential IP Resources, Links, & Tools - the ultimate treasure trove for infection prevention wizards! Dive into a magical collection of top-notch resources, nifty tools, and must-have links carefully handpicked to boost your skills and keep patients safe.

From mind-blowing research to handy toolkits, we've got you covered with (almost) everything you need to level up your infection-fighting game. Each gem in the collection is a shining beacon of accuracy and relevance, showcasing an unwavering dedication to infection prevention.

If you discover a topic of interest missing, contact us via the "Contact Us" section and suggest a topic you would like to see included in the list!

Last Updated: 2/3/2025

APIC

APIC is the leading professional organization for IPs. APIC’s educational programs, products, and services support IP work and its many stakeholders APIC collaborates with other professional associations, consumer groups, leaders, and regulatory and accrediting organizations

AHRQ

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is the lead Federal agency charged with improving the safety and quality of healthcare for all Americans. AHRQ develops the knowledge, tools, and data needed to improve the healthcare system and help consumers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers make informed health decisions.

CDC Newsroom

Latest News Releases

Infection Prevention & You

Resources Infection Preventionists can use to Educate and Inform

CDC

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

COVID-19

  • AORN education on protocol for COVID-19 patients
    • AORN provides more information on a protocol for COVID 19-patients undergoing surgery, and reprocessing N95s as well criteria for selection of respiratory protections.
    • More information can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch
  • COVID Workforce Virtual Toolkit
  • COVID-19 Testing and Reporting
  • COVID-19 Visitor Policy Exceptions for End of Life (EOL)
  • Visitors are allowed for End of Life situations.
  • If there are extended family members, the representative is encouraged to FaceTime or utilize other type of social media to include rest of the family.
  • The following information is noted from Ohana Pacific Management Company Policy:
    • One visitor each for the following categories:
    • End of life
    • Labor and Delivery
    • Pediatrics
    • For end of life, it can be multiple visitors but only one person allowed in the room at a time.
    • Large families would have to trade off persons.
  • COVID-19 Safety Practices for Critical Infrastructure Workers by implementing safety practices for critical infrastructure workers who may have had exposure to a person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. More information can be found here:
  • https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/critical-workers/implementing-safety-practices.htm
  • COVID -19 Healthcare Staffing Resources from CDC:
  • https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/open-america/staffing.html
  • Elsevier COVID-19 Healthcare Hub resource provides toolkits for healthcare professionals such as front-line clinical tools and resources to help deliver excellent care and information to patients.
  • Emergency care: Clinical guidelines, drug monographs, and care plans
  • Inpatient care: Resources to assist with managing a patient’s condition from treatment through discharge.
  • ICU: clinical guidelines and education related to patients in critical conditions, such as ARDS and sepsis.
  • Links to the most important leaders working on this pandemic.
  • European Center for Disease Prevention and Control’s Preparedness for COVID-provides advice to hospitals that want to be prepared for high-pressure situation caused by SARS-CoV-transmission.
  • FDA greenlights a new type of nasal swab for COVID-19
  • Social distancing measures
    • According to a study published April 14 in Science.The study predicts recurrent winter outbreaks of the virus after the initial, most severe wave.
    • To avoid exceeding the capacity of the healthcare system, prolonged or intermittent social distancing may be necessary into 2022, researchers write.

Heathcare-Associated Infections (HAIs)

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CAUTIs

CAUTI (catheter-associated urinary tract infection)

CLABSIs

CLABSI (central line-associated blood stream infection)

CDIs

CDI (Clostridioides difficile, C-diff, formerly Clostridium difficile)

SSIs

SSIs (surgical site infections)

Other Infection Prevention Resources & Tools: A-Z

AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation)

AHA (American Hospital Association)

Ambulatory Specific Resources (also see the Ambulatory Page)

AMS (Antimicrobial Stewardship)

AORN

ASHE (American Society for Health Care Engineering)

ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers)

Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure (BBP)

Candida auris

Cardboard boxes and shipping containers

CAUTI (catheter-associated urinary tract infection)

CDI (Clostridioides difficile, C-diff, formerly Clostridium difficile)

Certification in Infection Prevention and Control

CLABSI (central line-associated blood stream infection)

CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)

Construction

Contact Precautions

Core Infection Prevention and Control Practices

Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE)

CRE (carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae)

Critical Access Hospitals

Dialysis

Disinfection & Sterilization

Disinfection & Sterilization Suggested Resources

Drug Diversion

Education – Patient & Family

Endotracheal Tubes

Emergency Preparedness

Environmental Cleaning

Environmental Service Workers (EVS)

  • Importance of recognizing environmental service workers,including EVS in huddles and any safety briefings and recognizing them as essential to the fight against coronavirus. More information can be found here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada

Epidemiology (Principles of) – self-study course

Fecal Transplantation

Fit Testing (See PPE respirators)

Glucometer cleaning

Group A Streptococcus (GAS)

Hand Hygiene

Health Equity

Humidity levels

HVAC

ICAP (Nebraska Medicine)

ICAR (Infection Control Assessment and Response)

Infectious Diseases Society of America

  • IDSA Practice Guidelines
    • Practice guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist practitioners and patients in making decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)

Isolation Guidelines

Isolation Precautions

  • WSHA Isolation Precautions
  • Discontinuing isolation per CDC on any patient is noted below
  • The decision to discontinue Transmission-Based Precautionsshould be made using a test-based strategy or a non-test-based strategy (i.e., time-since-illness-onset and time-since-recovery strategy). Meeting criteria for discontinuation of Transmission-Based Precautions is not a prerequisite for discharge.
  • Test-based strategy
  • Non-test-based strategy
  • Aerosol-Generating Procedures (AGPs) & PPE: High and Low Risk Procedures.
  • Demonstration of effectiveness of good precautions.
    • As of March 30, 2020 no staff members at Huoshenshan Hospital had been infected with SARS-CoV-2, indicating that appropriate precautions could effectively prevent infection.

Joint Commission, The (TJC)

Joint Commission: Prerecorded Webinar on Preventing COVID-19 transmission in ambulatory health care.

Linen/Laundry

Medical Waste (waste management)

Medication Management

Medication Preparation

Multi Drug-Resistant Organism (MDRO)

NHSN

There are sections for each of the following:

National Emerging Special Pathogens Training & Educaiton Center (NETEC)

Norovirus

NPPTL

Operating Room Attire (ear and hair coverage)

OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration)

Outbreak Response Guidance

Pathogens of Epidemiological Concern (PEC) - HB 1739

Pediatrics

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Policy Review

Preop Antibiotic Guidelines

Principles of Epidemiology – Self Study Course

Professional Organizations:

  • AAMI: Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (limited access without membership fees): https://www.aami.org/   

Project Firstline - IPC Support Center

  • IPC Support Center
    • IP Needs Assessment
    • Improve Staff Knowledge
      • XR Education provides a simulation-based, immersive reality educational program to aid Infection Preventionists in addressing gaps within the Sterile Processing Department. The environment allows users to gain experience in Sterile Processing virtually, prior to entering a sterile processing area.
    • Assess Facility Preparedness
      • Understand the current status of your IPC program and access solution-based guidence to strengthen areas of opportunity.
    • Webinars & Office Hours
      • Join webinar series with post presentation office hours to learn how to develop and implement successful IPC program and partner on strategies to mitigate concern.
    • Success in the Early Days of Your New IP Position
      • 90-day Survival Guide: Navigating all the nuances in the role of Infection Preventionist can be challenging and has been identified as a barrier to finding and retaining qualified Infection Prevention specialists. This Survival Guide is designed to serve as a comprehensive resource for everything a new IP needs to know to survive their first 90 days on the job.  
    • Access & Download Tools & Resources
      • Innovate Infection Prevention Resource Repository. Check out our free Infection Prevention resources, templates, and checklists from Enviornment of Care (EOC), IPC Programs, Healthcare Provider Exposure, Outbreak Management, Surgical Site Infections (SSI), and more!

Psychiatric Hospitals

Quality Improvement

  • Institute for Healthcare Improvement – IHI’s Quality Improvement Essentialsincludes the tools and templates you need to launch and manage a successful improvement project. Each of the ten tools in the toolkit includes a short description, instructions, an example and a blank template.

Regulaotry Compliance and Survey Readiness:

Research

Respiratory Protection

Return on Investment, IPC program

Safe Injection Practices

Sensitivity and Specificity

Sepsis

Sharps Safety (see Safe Injection)

SHEA (The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America)

SPICE (Statewide Program for Infection Control & Epidemiology)

Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM)

SSIs (surgical site infections)

Staffing and HAIs, Hospital

Statistics

Sterile Supplies

Symptom Based Isolation 

Testing Swabs

Tools and Forms

  • ICAP (Infection Control Assessment and Promotion Program), Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
    • The Nebraska ICAP team develops new tools for IPs or provides resources of tools and forms that are already available. They have compiled popularly used tools and forms on their website. These include:
      • CDC Infection Control Self-Assessment Tools
      • CLABSI Prevention
      • CMS Audit Tools
      • Device Disinfection/Sterilization
      • Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection
      • Environmental Rounding
      • Hand Hygiene
      • Indwelling Urinary Catheters
      • Infection Control Committee resource
      • Infection Surveillance
      • Infection Safety
      • Medication Administration
      • Observation Tools
      • Outbreaks
      • Personal Protective Equipment
      • Staff audit documentation tool
      • Surveillance
      • Transfer Form
      • Visitor Screening
      • And, others

VAE (ventilator-associated event)

From: Klompas,M. Resp Care, Aug 2019, 64(8).

Ventilators

Water Management

WHO (World Health Organization)