The Joint Commission created its National Patient Safety Goals in 2002 to help accredited organizations address areas of concern regarding patient safety. They are updated regularly. The 2018 National Safety Goal No. 8 – Healthcare-associated infections – contains the following components:
- Comply with either the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hand-hygiene guidelines or the current World Health Organization hand-hygiene guidelines.
- Implement evidence-based practices to prevent healthcare-associated infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms in acute care hospitals.
- Implement evidence-based practices to prevent central-line-associated bloodstream infections.
- Implement evidence-based practices for preventing surgical site infections.
- Implement evidence-based practices to prevent indwelling catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI).
Source: Joint Commission