Reduce the Risk of Health Care–Associated Infections

Infection prevention and control are challenging in most health care settings, and rising rates of health care–associated infections are a major concern for patients and health care practitioners. Infections common to many health care settings include catheter-associated urinary tract infections, bloodstream infections, and pneumonia (often associated with mechanical ventilation). Central to the elimination of these and other infections is proper hand hygiene.Internationally acceptable hand hygiene guidelines are available from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), and various other national and international organizations. The organization has a collaborative process to develop policies and/or procedures that adapt or adopt currently published and generally accepted hand hygiene guidelines and for the implementation of those guidelines within the organization.