Preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections: An executive summary of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc, Elimination Guide.

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) began publishing their series of Elimination Guides in 2007. Since then, 9 Elimination Guides have been developed that cover a range of important infection prevention issues, including the prevention of catheter-related bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), as well as mediastinitis surgical site surveillance. Multidrug-resistant organisms, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium difficile, and multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, also have been the focus of APIC Elimination Guides. The content of each of these Elimination Guides will be summarized in a series of upcoming Brief Reports published in The Journal. This article provides an executive summary of the APIC Elimination Guide for CAUTIs. Infection preventionists are encouraged to obtain the original, full-length APIC Elimination Guide for more thorough coverage of CAUTI prevention.