Step 1. Vaccinate
-Give influenza/pneumococcal vaccine to at-risk patients before discharge
-Get influenza vaccine annually

Step 2. Get the Catheters out
-Use catheters only when essential
-Use the correct catheter
-Use proper insertion and catheter-care protocols
-Remove catheters when they are no longer essential

Step 3. Target the pathogen
-Culture the patient
-Target empiric therapy to likely pathogens and local antibiogram
-Target definitive therapy to known pathogens and antimicrobial susceptibility test results

Step 4. Access the experts
-Consult infectious diseases experts for patients with serious infections

Step 5. Practice antimicrobial control
-Engage in local antimicrobial control efforts.

Step 6. Use local data
-Know your antibiogram.
-Know your patient population.

Step 7. Treat infection, not contamination
-Use proper antisepsis for blood and other cultures.
-Culture the blood, not the skin or catheter hub.
-Use proper methods to obtain and process all cultures.

Step 8. Treat infection, not colonization
-Treat pneumonia, not the tracheal aspirate.
-Treat bacteremia, not the catheter tip or hub.
-Treat urinary tract infection, not the indwelling catheter.

Step 9. Know when to say "no" to vanco
-Treat infection, not contaminants or colonization.
-Fever in a patient with an intravenous catheter is not a routine indication for vancomycin.

Step 10. Stop antimicrobial treatment:
-When infection is cured.
-When cultures are negative and infection is unlikely
-When infection is not diagnosed.

Step 11. Isolate the pathogen
-Use standard infection control precautions.
-Contain infectious body fluids. (Follow airborne, droplet, and contact precautions.)
-When in doubt, consult infection control experts.

Step 12. Break the chain of contagion
-Stay home when you are sick.
-Keep your hands clean.
-Set an example.