Featured Education & Training Resource

Respiratory disease season is on the way. October is a great time to get prevention messages in front of staff, patients, and residents before respiratory illness activity picks up.

Check out the Guidance, Recommendations, & Regulatory Updates section for new respiratory disease season updates. Learn what’s new for sick or exposed healthcare workers and how to prevent  the spread of respiratory diseases at your workplace.

Then, grab a few ready-to-use training tools to help your team put prevention into action.

What to Expect: 

• VDH Respiratory Disease Resources: Find flyers, social media graphics, and healthy habits tools. You’ll also find vaccine information, flu materials, and more.
• CDC Respiratory Illness Season Toolkit: Find posters, handouts, social media graphics, and videos. Use them to help your team prepare for respiratory disease season.
• National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) Respiratory Disease Resources: Mix up your flu education with 30-second videos and graphics. You’ll also find the “Wild to Mild” campaign and an antiviral infographic.

Put it into Action: 

• Start early. Add a reminder to your next staff huddle. Post one in a waiting area.
• Keep it quick. Show a short video at a meeting.
• Mix it up. Share a new message each week. Cover vaccines, healthy habits, symptoms, or treatment.
• Know what’s going around. Check Virginia respiratory disease data. Share key updates with your team.

Start now and keep it simple. You’ll have tools ready when you need them.

Target Audience: Foundational & Intermediate IPC Education Level

International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW) is October 19–25! It is a great time to celebrate the people who make infection prevention happen. Get your team in the game with activities that build skills, raise awareness, and keep others safe.

What to Expect:

International Infection Prevention Week: Start with the official IIPW site. Be on the lookout for resources for this year’s theme, Generations of Infection Prevention: PAST. PRESENT. PROTECTED.

VIPTA Resource Library: Build your game plan with resources for each daily focus. Monday covers sterile processing, TB, and outbreaks. Tuesday focuses on hand hygiene. Wednesday covers vaccines and antibiotics. Thursday focuses on environment of care. Finish the week on Friday with technology.

VDH Infection Prevention Training Power Tools: Add some fun with ready-to-use puzzles, coloring pages, games, and step-by-step training guides.

• Create your own: Make a custom puzzle or Wordle using key words from your IIPW activities.

How to use it:

• Make a daily play: Pick one resource for each day. Send it to unit leaders with a few discussion points or trivia questions to share with staff. (Hack: A Project Firstline Micro-Learn is ready to go if you don’t want to make something new.)
• Set up a game station: Put puzzles, coloring pages, or trivia in a break room or staff area. Add a prize drawing to boost play.
• Cheer on your team: Use Cheers for Peers certificates to thank staff for great infection prevention work. Or, create an IIPW Kudos Wall where staff can leave notes or shout outs to celebrate each other.

Target Audience: Foundational & Intermediate IPC Education Level

Cyclosporiasis has been making headlines lately. We can use that attention to spark interest in infection prevention. There is no current evidence that Virginia is experiencing an outbreak, but the recent “explosive” headlines are a good chance to remind healthcare staff about foundational infection prevention best practices.

What to Expect:

Virginia Monthly Morbidity Surveillance Report: See how cyclosporiasis and other reportable diseases compare with past years and seasonal trends in Virginia.

CDC Health Alert Network (HAN) – Health Advisory on Cyclosporiasis: The HAN shares updates about urgent public health events. Sign up for HAN alerts to stay up to date on the latest guidance and infection prevention recommendations.

Project Firstline’s How to Read a Disinfectant Label: Learn how to choose and use disinfectants the right way. Follow the label to make sure your cleaning and disinfection work, no matter which germ is making the headlines.

How to use it:

• Make local data meaningful. Share the Surveillance Report at your infection prevention committee meeting. Compare current disease activity with the usual baseline. Talk about what any changes could mean for your facility.
• Practice before it happens. Use CDC Health Alert Network (HAN) alerts as discussion starters. Ask, “What would we do if this happened here?” Review your plans for reporting, isolation, testing, and communication.
• Host a disinfectant scavenger hunt. Place several disinfectant products around the room. Challenge staff to use the Project Firstline “How to Read a Disinfectant Label” infographic to answer questions from each label. The first team to finish with the most correct answers wins.

Target Audience: Foundational & Intermediate IPC Education Level

We’ve done the wrapping and you get to open the educational package! Whether you’re refreshing staff education, strengthening your wound care program, or looking for practical teaching tools, these free resources are ready to help you put infection prevention into practice.

What to Expect:

Wound Care Educational Handout: A colorful, easy-to-follow visual resource that highlights key infection prevention practices before, during, and after wound care.

TRAIN Virginia Wound Care Series: Start with “VDH: Wound Care Infection Risks and Your Infection Prevention Program” (Course ID 1127475) and continue through the full series exploring infection prevention principles, common infection transmission risks, and evidence-based practices through interactive scenarios and knowledge checks.

VDH Wound Care Infection Prevention and Control Guidance & Observation Tool: A ready-to-use observation checklist that you can use for audits, competency validation, and helps standardize wound care practices across your facility.

How to use it:

• Observe before you educate. Use the observation tool to identify your team’s strengths and opportunities, then tailor education to the practices you actually see instead of guessing where knowledge gaps exist.
• Make observations less intimidating. Use the checklist as a coaching tool rather than an audit, creating opportunities for real-time feedback and discussion.
• Who else should be trained? Anyone who assists during wound care, including nursing assistants and other healthcare personnel who provide an extra set of hands, should understand infection prevention practices that help protect the patient.

Target Audience: Foundational & Intermediate IPC Education Level

Need a quick win for your next training? These VDH Infection Prevention Power Tools are ready when you are. Use them for education days, World Hand Hygiene Day (May 5th), or quick huddles, with practical, engaging activities you can grab and go to make infection prevention stick.

What to Expect

• Training Step-by-Step Guides: Ready-to-use guides that walk you through delivering engaging IP trainings from start to finish. Each includes clear instructions, materials, and tips so you can confidently lead activities like Caught Red-Handed, PPE Fashion Show, Glowing IP Education, and Creating an Educational Game.
• Hands-On Learning: Interactive activities designed to get staff thinking, talking, and applying infection prevention in real time. Use tools like Rank the Risk, IP Sketch Pad, and puzzles to spark discussion, reinforce key concepts, and make learning stick.

How to use it:

• Kick off World Hand Hygiene Day: Run Caught Red-Handed during shift change to quickly show missed spots and reinforce good hand hygiene technique.
• Annual education days: Use PPE Fashion Show to train a large group in a fun engaging way while using a limited number of PPE supplies.
• Downtime: Set up puzzles and coloring pages as a low-pressure way to reinforce key concepts like isolation precautions or transmission routes.

Target Audience: Essential IPC Education Level