What do you spend most of your time doing each workday? Caring for patients? Circulating in the OR? Completing paperwork?

Chances are, regardless of your role, you spend a huge chunk of your day working to prevent healthcare-associated infections (JCAHO's new term - and latest focus). Think about it. If you're in the OR, you don shoe covers, gowns and masks, prep patients and monitor for use of sterile techniques. If you're working in the pre- and post-op areas, you wash your hands a dozen times a day and make sure you're wearing gloves any time there's a possibility of body-fluid contact. You might even mop the OR floor and wipe down the vents. If you spend much of your time on paperwork, you might also be the one charged with purchasing barrier protection, liquid chemical germicides and alcohol-based hand rubs - or even writing and updating your facility's policies.

The point is this: You're so involved with infection control because it's square one for good patient care.

But keeping up with the constant barrage of new products, scientific studies and recommendations is daunting. Busy surgical days are not conducive to going through them with a fine-toothed comb.

So we've compiled the most recent relevant scientific findings, advice from infection control experts and recommendations from accrediting, professional and governmental bodies such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the Association for periOperative Registered Nurses and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Everything you need to know to integrate the latest practices, techniques and supplies into your facility and its policies.

Here is your infection control progress report.