Protecting the people who protect everyone else
Infection prevention isn't a poster taped to the breakroom wall — it's what you do at 3am with a full assignment and no time to think about it. We pulled together the everyday practices that actually hold up under pressure, written for the line, by people who never stopped caring about it.
Where to begin
Most of us learned infection prevention as a checklist in orientation, then learned the real version on the floor — the shortcuts that creep in on a short-staffed night, the glove box that's empty when you need it, the respirator that fits the person who fit-tested last year but not you. This hub is built around two things we can each control on every shift: the protective equipment we put on, and the hands we clean between every patient. The guidance here mirrors long-established public-health principles — the kind your facility's infection-prevention team already champions — translated into plain language you can actually use mid-shift. We don't sell anything. This is a community resource, not a store.
The two practices that carry the most weight
Everything else in infection prevention is layered on top of these. Get them right and you've covered the ground that matters most for protecting yourself and your patients.
PPE Selection & Fit
The right gown, mask, respirator, and eye protection — chosen for the actual exposure in front of you, and fitted so it does what it's supposed to. We walk through how to match PPE to the task, why a respirator that doesn't seal is no respirator at all, and how to don and doff in an order that doesn't contaminate you on the way out.
Read the PPE guideHand Hygiene Under Pressure
Hand hygiene is the single most effective thing any of us does to stop transmission — and the first thing that slips when the unit is slammed. We cover the moments that count, alcohol-based rub versus soap and water, skin care that keeps you compliant instead of cracked, and how to make it muscle memory when there's no time to think.
Read the hand hygiene guidePrevention is everyday practice, not a one-time training
We started Feed The Line in 2020 by showing up at loading docks with hot meals at 2am, because the line was exhausted and nobody else was. The work we do now is the same instinct pointed at a longer problem: the day-to-day well-being and safety of frontline staff. Infection prevention sits at the center of that. It's the difference between going home healthy and bringing something home with you.
So we wrote these guides the way good advice gets handed off mid-shift — specific, current, and free of jargon. No overclaiming, no fearmongering, no vendor pitch. Just the practices that protect the people who protect everyone else.
Something missing, or something we got wrong?
We keep these guides honest by listening to the line. If there's a practice you'd add, a question we didn't answer, or a real-world wrinkle from your unit, tell us — this resource gets better every time someone on the floor weighs in.