Abstract: Objective To study the status of nosocomial infection knowledge among staff in rural medical institutions in Heilongjiang province for making appropriate management strategies to control nosocomial infection.Methods A self-administered anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted among 700 medical staff selected from 5 county-or municipality-level and 10 township rural hospitals during May to October 2015.Results The mean score for general nosocomial infection knowledge was 60.80±17.52 among the 544 medical staff with eligible response and the mean score was 66±15.76 and 51.01±16.50 for the staff from county-level and township rural hospitals.There were statistically significant differences between the staff from county-level and township hospitals staff in general knowledge,disinfection and sterilization,hand hygiene,medical waste management,isolation,antibiotic usage,and occupational protection (P<0.01 for all).The top three ways for getting nosocomial infection knowledge listed by the staff were hospital-based training (76.8%),department-based training (48.9%),and various propagandas in hospitals (50.0%).The cognition rate of nosocomial infection differed by professional title and education level,with the higher rates among the nurses and the staff with undergraduate education than among the doctors and those with junior college education or below (both P<0.05);but there was no significant difference in the cognition rate among the staff having various durations of professional work.Conclusion The nosocomial infection knowledge of staff in rural medical institutions is generally at a low level and specific training programs on the knowledge need to be implemented among different medical professionals.