Reducing the Risk of Infection * Make certain that all personnel wash their hands before touching you or your loved one (see ""Cleanliness First"). * Make certain that all personnel put on a new pair of gloves before touching you or your loved one (see "New Gloves for Each Patient"). * Make certain that respiratory personnel are adequate to provide ventilator maintenance with changing of external airway tubes every day (see "Ventilator Maintenance"). * If there is a bladder catheter, make certain that the nurse provides catheter care (see "Caring for Bladder Catheters"). * Speak to the operating room nurse about contamination in the operating room prior to your surgery (see "Operating Room Contamination"). * Observe for breach of sterile technique during dressing changes (see "Dressing Changes"). * Watch for breach of sterile technique during insertion and maintenance of vein catheters (see "Vein Catheter Sterility"). * Look for proper disposal of biohazard waste (see "Hazardous Waste"). * When you or a loved one has to be in isolation, learn what is required (e.g. cap, mask, gown, or gloves) and insist that the nurses and doctors not enter the room unless they follow the same rules (see table entitled "How to Maintain Effective Isolation"). * Make certain that your doctor is prescribing an antibiotic that is going to be effective (see "Treatment for Infections").