Healthcare epidemiology is a patient-centered field of science. At its core, healthcare epidemiology asks the question, "How can infections or other adverse events be prevented and controlled?"

Patient safety and patient health are twin priorities for SHEA and its members. Through research, education, and policy development, SHEA strives to expand the ranks of dedicated professionals in this field and ensure that healthcare delivered at the bedside is informed by the latest science about what works to prevent and eliminate HAIs. 

Patient Education Guides on HAIs

SHEA provides its Patient Guides (Frequently Asked Questions, “FAQs”) about the most common healthcare-associated infections, available for download by individuals, healthcare centers, and public and private organizations. The Patient Guides on Healthcare-Associated Infections are based on recommendations from the Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals and are endorsed by SHEA, IDSA, Joint Commission, AHA, APIC, and CDC.

These guides are tools that educate patients and their families about seven common healthcare-associated infections and how to work with healthcare professionals to prevent them. The guides are easy to read, available in several languages, and can be reproduced by individuals and patient educators free-of-charge.

Individuals and healthcare institutions are encouraged to download, print, and distribute the guides.

• Surgical Site Infection (SSI)
• Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI)
• Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI)
• Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP)
• Clostridium difficile
• Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
• Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus (VRE)
  VRE guide developed by 

Rationale for Hand Hygiene Recommendations after Caring for a Patient with Clostridium difficile Infection - Fall 2011 Update

This brief responds to Questions that frequently arise in regards to the recommended method of hand hygiene after caring for patients with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI).  The brief clarifies that although soap and water is superior to removing C. difficile spores from hands of volunteers compared to alcohol-based hand hygiene products, there have been no studies in acute care settings that have demonstrated an increase in CDI with alcohol-based hand hygiene products or a decrease in CDI with soap and water. This is why preferential use of soap and water for hand hygiene after caring for a patient with CDI is not recommended in non-outbreak settings. 
View PDF (133 kb)

Large Print Versions

• Surgical Site Infection (SSI)
• Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI)
• Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI)
• Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP)
• Clostridium difficile
• Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Spanish Versions

• Surgical Site Infection (SSI)
• Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI)
• Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI)
• Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP)
• Clostridium difficile
• Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
• Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus (VRE)
  VRE guide developed by 

Co-Branding

Photoshop files are available in .zip format for download by facilities that wish to place their logos on the guides. 

Co-branding guides are available only in PSD, English and Spanish, letter-size paper. No other format is available. The VRE guide is not yet available in Spanish.

General guidelines for co-branding are as follows:

• Content of the guides cannot be changed
• Images on the guide cannot be changed or removed
• Sponsoring organizations’ logos cannot be removed

 Download the following .zip files containing the PSD-formatted guides for co-branding (~4 MB each).