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Demo Analysis Exercises

Below is a collection of practice exercises that can be completed using NHSN Demo. These exercises will introduce you to the different analysis output options available in NHSN and will provide guidance on the analysis and interpretation of surveillance data and comparative statistics (using the fictitious practice data that have been preloaded into NHSN Demo). The correct output and solutions to the exercises are also provided below.

Register as a facility user in NHSN Demo .

Additional analysis training is available on the NHSN Training Data Entry and Analysis website .

Quick Reference Guides for each analysis output option are available on the Patient Safety Analysis Quick Reference Guides website. 

General Acute Care Facility (Patient Safety)

Title Teaching Points Exercise Solution
Line List How to create and interpret an event line list Exercise [PDF – 177K] Solution [PDF-177 KB]
Advanced Line List How to create a line list that includes pathogen and antibiotic sensitivity information Exercise [PDF – 196K] Solution [PDF – 143K]
Frequency Table How to create and interpret a table showing the frequencies of different events based on a row and column variable Exercise [PDF – 177K] Solution [PDF – 111K]
Rate Table How to create and interpret a table showing infection rates, device utilization ratios, and comparative statistics Exercise [PDF – 180K] Solution [PDF – 112K]
LabID Event Standardized Infection Ratio (SIR) How to create and interpret a table displaying SIR data (for C.difficile) and comparative statistics Exercise [PDF – 173K] Solution [PDF – 126K]
SIR Report for CMS Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) How to create an SIR report that includes only the data that will be submitted to CMS on a facility’s behalf (used to comply with IPPS) Exercise [PDF – 168K] Solution [PDF – 135K]
Statistics Calculator How to use the Statistics Calculator, an NHSN analytic tool Exercise [PDF – 188K] Solution [PDF – 132K]
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