Reevaluating practice changes: Return to standard precautions after an outbreak of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella oxytoca

Change in medical practice is usually made to solve immediate problems. The continued use of these changes should then be reevaluated. Following an ou tbreak of K. oxytoca in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), glove use for all patient contact was mandated. We evaluated the need for continued g love use after resolution of the outbreak. No change in colonization patter ns was seen after returning to standard precautions, and, as a secondary be nefit, financial savings resulting from decreased glove use was realized. F ollowing implementation of any practice change, routine reevaluation will h elp to determine when that change is no longer needed or beneficial.