Not necessarily.  In fact, an often-quoted study showed more relapses among patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa nosocomial pneumonia treated for 8 days compared to 15 days, and concluded that the results did not apply to “non-fermenting gram negative bacilli” (1).

For methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia, the data on the effectiveness of the shorter course therapy is also quite limited (1,2) .  So for patients with pneumonia due to organisms such as P. aeruginosa or MRSA I decide on the duration of therapy on case-by-case basis depending on the overall stability of the patient and their progress in recovery.

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References

1. Chastre J, Wolff M, Fagon JY. Comparison of 8 vs 15 days of antibiotic therapy for ventilator-associated pneumonia in adults: a randomized trial. JAMA 2003;290:2588-98. 

2. Rubinstein E, Kollef MH, Nathwani D. Pneumonia caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Clin Infect Dis 2008;46 (Suppl5):S378-385.