RESUMO
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the perception and practice of hospital infection control of nursing staff in long-term care hospitals by the level of supplementation of nurses. METHODS: The participants were 212 nurses and nurse assistants in 13 long-term care hospitals in a metropolitan city and the data were gathered by self-reported questionnaires during August 2011 and analyzed by SPSS/WIN program. RESULTS: The beds per a nurse were 15, and the proportion of nurses among nursing staff in long-term care hospitals was about 33%. In general, the level of infection control in practice was lower than that of perception. The highest perception and practice domain was 'Management of disinfection/contamination', and the lower level domains were 'Personal hygiene' and 'Hand washing' There were statistically significant differences in the hospital infection control of perception and practice depending on age, education, career in long-term care hospital, job position, the quantity of beds, nurse, and nurse assistant, beds per a nurse and proportion of nurses in hospitals. CONCLUSION: According to these results, the systematic and continual education on hospital infection control of the nursing staff in long-term hospitals should be carried out. In addition, the policy to add more nurses into long-term care hospitals must be implemented.