shea-online.org

SHEA (the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, shea-online.org) is a professional society focused on infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship. Membership connects you to education, guidelines, journals, events, and career resources in healthcare epidemiology. The exact benefits depend on your membership category, and some resources (such as certain publications or the SHEA Store) may be separate purchases rather than included access.

Education and training

• SHEA LearningCE — continuing education offerings tied to the society's education and training programs.
• eLearning courses, such as the interactive Penicillin Allergy Management course, which covers allergy history taking, risk assessment using validated instruments, allergy testing, and delabeling.
• Education & Training resources aimed at professional development in healthcare epidemiology and infection prevention.

Guidelines and clinical resources

SHEA produces guidance that members can use in practice:

• Guidance Compendium and Pocket Guidelines.
• Pocket Guidelines Digital Subscription — note that this appears as a subscription item, so confirm whether it is included with your membership tier or purchased separately.
• SHEA Guidelines Print Bundle — a physical product, typically a separate purchase.
• Topic resource areas including Infection Prevention Programs, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Diagnostic Stewardship, Outbreak Preparedness and Response, Implementation Science, and Public Health Research.

Journals and member content

• ICHE (Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology) and ASHE (Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology) journals.
• Journal Club and SHEA Spotlight.
• eToC Alerts Signup and the Compendium Podcasts.
• MySHEA member area and News updates.

Events and networking

• SHEA Spring — the society's conference for healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship professionals, with expert-led sessions, hands-on workshops, and training courses.
• IDWeek — the joint annual meeting of IDSA, SHEA, HIMSA, and PIDS.
• SHEA Research Network and SHEA Foundation involvement.

Career and recognition

• Membership Advancement to Fellow of SHEA — a recognition path for eligible members.
• Careers resources and Advocacy tools, including advocate training, emerging legislation and regulations, and priority issues.

Governance and community

• Board of Trustees, Committee Chairs, and Strategic Plan information.
• Healthcare Access, Inclusion and Representation initiatives and Guiding Principles for AI Usage.
• Social channels: Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Instagram, Bluesky, and X.

How to decide

If your goal is clinical guidance and infection prevention tools, the guidelines and stewardship resources are the core value. If your goal is continuing education or credentialing, look at SHEA LearningCE and the Fellow of SHEA path. If your goal is networking and research, SHEA Spring, IDWeek, and the Research Network matter most. Because membership tiers and subscription items (like the Pocket Guidelines Digital Subscription) can differ, check the Join SHEA page for the current category that matches your role before joining.

SHEA stands for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, a professional society whose stated mission is to improve public health by establishing infection-prevention measures and supporting antibiotic stewardship among healthcare providers. The site at shea-online.org is the organization's main hub for membership, education, guidelines, and events, and it is aimed primarily at professionals working in healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship.

What SHEA does

SHEA describes itself as a professional society that advances safe healthcare through infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship. Its work is organized around several areas visible on the site:

• Infection prevention programs – resources and guidance for hospital and health-system prevention efforts.
• Antimicrobial stewardship – supporting appropriate antibiotic use among providers.
• Diagnostic stewardship – including a published resource on how hospitals can build the business case for it.
• Outbreak preparedness and response – guidance for handling and containing outbreaks.
• Implementation science and public health research – methods and research supporting practice change.
• Advocacy – training, resources, and tracking of emerging legislation and regulations.

Resources and offerings

The site groups its content into a few main categories:

A few specific items stand out:

• SHEA Spring is described as the premier conference for professionals in healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship, with expert-led sessions, workshops, and training courses.
• IDWeek is the joint annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, SHEA, the HIV Medicine Association, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
• Penicillin Allergy Management is an interactive eLearning course covering allergy history taking, risk assessment using validated instruments, allergy testing, and delabeling.
• ICHE and ASHE are the society's journals, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology.

Who it is for

SHEA's audience is healthcare professionals rather than the general public. If you work in or study infection prevention, healthcare epidemiology, or antimicrobial stewardship, the site's education, guidelines, and events are the most directly relevant sections. Members get access to member accounts, the Journal Club, and other community features.

Practical notes

• Some content, such as the Pocket Guidelines Digital Subscription, is tied to a subscription, so not everything on the site is necessarily open access.
• Membership and login are separate actions; joining SHEA and logging in are listed as distinct options.
• The site also links to a store, a foundation, and a research network, so it functions as more than a document library.

If your goal is to understand the organization, start with the "Learn more" and "Become a Member" sections. If your goal is to use its content, the guidelines, education, and publications sections are the places to look first.

SHEA (the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America) runs two major conferences and a set of online learning offerings. The two events are SHEA Spring, its own annual conference for healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship, and IDWeek, the joint annual meeting it co-hosts with three other infectious diseases societies. For self-paced learning, SHEA offers eLearning courses such as an interactive program on penicillin allergy management.

Conferences

SHEA Spring

SHEA Spring is described as the premier conference for professionals in healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship. Its format includes:

• Expert-led sessions
• Hands-on workshops
• Training courses designed to drive innovation and improve patient outcomes

This is the event to choose if your focus is specifically healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, or antimicrobial stewardship and you want workshops and training rather than a broad infectious diseases program.

IDWeek

IDWeek is the joint annual meeting of four organizations:

• Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)
• Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA)
• HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA)
• Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS)

Because it is a multi-society meeting, IDWeek covers a wider range of infectious diseases topics than SHEA Spring alone. Choose it if you want the breadth of several societies' programming in one meeting.

eLearning and Courses

SHEA's eLearning offerings include an interactive course on Penicillin Allergy Management. According to SHEA, learners in this course gain experience in:

• Penicillin allergy history taking
• Risk assessment using validated instruments
• Penicillin allergy testing
• Delabeling

The interactive format means learners work through these steps rather than only reading about them — useful if you need practical familiarity with the delabeling process.

Other Education and Training Resources

Beyond events and courses, SHEA's site lists an Education & Training section and a SHEA LearningCE area, along with guidance materials such as the Guidance Compendium and Pocket Guidelines. These sit alongside the conferences as part of its overall education offering.

How to Choose

For current dates, registration details, and course availability, check the individual event or eLearning pages on shea-online.org, since these change by cycle.

SHEA (the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, shea-online.org) offers infection prevention guidance through several channels: the Compendium, Pocket Guidelines (available in print and as a digital subscription), topic-based resource pages, and training courses. These are aimed at healthcare epidemiologists, infection preventionists, and antimicrobial stewardship professionals. Some materials are tied to membership or subscription access, so check each item before assuming it is free.

Core guideline publications

Compendium

The Compendium is SHEA's flagship guidance product for infection prevention practice. On the site it appears both as a resource area and as a podcast series, which suggests the content is substantial enough to support ongoing discussion and updates.

Pocket Guidelines

SHEA offers Pocket Guidelines in two formats:

• Pocket Guidelines Digital Subscription — a subscription-based digital version
• SHEA Guidelines Print Bundle — a physical bundle of guidelines

If you need quick reference material at the point of care, the pocket format is the most direct option. The digital version carries a subscription signal, so verify current access terms on the site.

Topic-based resource areas

SHEA organizes resources around specific program and practice areas rather than only by publication type. The resource areas listed include:

These pages are the starting point if your question is "how do I build or improve a program" rather than "what does the guideline say."

Education and training

SHEA pairs its guidelines with structured learning:

• SHEA LearningCE — continuing education offerings
• Penicillin Allergy Management — an interactive course covering allergy history taking, risk assessment using validated instruments, penicillin allergy testing, and delabeling
• SHEA Spring — a conference for healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship professionals, with expert-led sessions, workshops, and training courses
• IDWeek — the joint annual meeting of IDSA, SHEA, HIVMA, and PIDS

The penicillin allergy course is a concrete example of SHEA translating a stewardship topic into a step-by-step training product, which is useful if you need to train staff on delabeling rather than just read a guideline.

How to decide what to use

• Need a quick bedside or meeting reference: Pocket Guidelines (digital subscription or print bundle).
• Need comprehensive practice guidance: the Compendium.
• Need to stand up or strengthen a program: the topic resource pages for Infection Prevention Programs, Antimicrobial Stewardship, or Diagnostic Stewardship.
• Need to prepare for or respond to an outbreak: the Outbreak Preparedness and Response resources.
• Need training or CE: SHEA LearningCE, the penicillin allergy course, SHEA Spring, or IDWeek.
• Need to make the case internally: SHEA has published a resource on building the business case for diagnostic stewardship, which is relevant if you need justification for a program investment.

Access notes

SHEA is a professional society, and the site references membership, login, and a store. The Pocket Guidelines digital version is explicitly described as a subscription. Pricing details and login requirements are not specified in the available site information, so confirm access terms directly on shea-online.org before planning around any specific resource.

SHEA (the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America) engages in advocacy and public health policy through a dedicated Advocacy section on shea-online.org, offering advocate training and resources, tracking emerging legislation and regulations, and organizing its priority issues. It also supports public health research through the SHEA Research Network and SHEA Foundation, and publishes news and resources—such as a recent resource helping hospitals build the business case for diagnostic stewardship.

Advocacy Training and Resources

SHEA provides an Advocate Training & Resources area for members and healthcare professionals who want to participate in policy engagement. This is aimed at helping infection preventionists, healthcare epidemiologists, and antimicrobial stewardship professionals translate their clinical expertise into policy input.

The site's navigation groups advocacy content into three related areas:

• Advocate Training & Resources – preparation and tools for advocacy work
• Emerging Legislation & Regulations – tracking of new and developing policy
• Priority Issues – the specific topics SHEA focuses its advocacy on

Tracking Legislation and Priority Issues

Rather than reacting to individual bills in isolation, SHEA maintains standing categories for Emerging Legislation & Regulations and Priority Issues. This structure lets visitors see which policy areas the society is actively monitoring and where it concentrates its advocacy effort, instead of browsing disconnected updates.

Research and Foundation Support

SHEA's policy positions are backed by research infrastructure:

• The SHEA Research Network connects researchers working on healthcare epidemiology and infection prevention questions.
• The SHEA Foundation supports the society's mission, including through donations.

Together these support the evidence base that informs SHEA's public health positions.

Publishing Policy-Relevant Resources

SHEA publishes news and practical resources that connect policy to hospital practice. One example from the site: SHEA published a resource describing how diagnostic stewardship can improve patient outcomes and help hospitals build the business case for it. This kind of publication gives hospitals an argument they can use internally when justifying stewardship investments—an advocacy function that works through institutions rather than only through legislators.

How to Follow or Get Involved

If you want to track or participate in SHEA's advocacy work:

1. Visit shea-online.org and open the Advocacy section.
2. Review Priority Issues to see current focus areas.
3. Check Emerging Legislation & Regulations for policy developments.
4. Use Advocate Training & Resources if you want to engage policymakers yourself.
5. Watch the News section for new policy-related publications and resources.

Note that some content and participation pathways may be tied to SHEA membership or login; the site shows Join SHEA and Login options, and membership is referenced alongside a subscription signal, so access conditions for specific resources should be checked on the page itself.