Survey Alert

Readiness tool

Infection control led the national Standard citation pattern

In the August National Survey Preparedness Brief, infection prevention and control was the most frequently cited Standard focus area nationally. Use the data to review whether infection prevention records, audits, correction, and monitoring can stand on their own.

August national pattern

In the August National Survey Preparedness Brief, F0880 appeared for 5,662 active nursing homes in the 15-month Standard survey window ending August 1, 2026.

5,662Active facilities with F0880 cited
38.54%Of all 14,690 active facilities
51.43%Of 11,010 facilities with a Standard inspection

If surveyors pull the infection prevention record today, the facility should be able to show observations, decisions, correction, and monitoring without rebuilding the timeline.

Record trace

  • Pull the last infection-control concern and trace observation, immediate action, follow-up, and monitoring.
  • Check whether hand hygiene, PPE, isolation, cleaning, and surveillance audits show owner follow-through.
  • Confirm outbreak, communicable-disease, immunization, and antibiotic-stewardship records are retrievable.
  • Look for internal findings that were corrected in practice but left thin in the record.
  • Use the same trace across shifts so leadership does not rely on one person carrying the story.

Useful source tools

CMS publishes the current nursing-home Survey Resources ZIP, which includes Long-Term Care Survey Process survey tools, and a Head-to-Toe Infection Prevention Toolkit for nursing homes.