ObjectiveTo investigate the educational background of practitioners from the hospital infection control departments located in the mainland of China and reveal the necessity and employment prospects of setting up a major of hospital infection control for a bachelor degree in universities.MethodsA self-designed questionnaire was used to conduct an online survey on the Shanghai International Forum for Infection Control and Prevention and the WeChat group of nosocomial infection control from March 12th to March 25th, 2018. The convenient sampling method was used to investigate the leader of infection prevention and control department in each hospital. The survey included the regional distribution, attention on nosocomial infection control, existing staff structure, future staff needs and employment prospects of hospitals in 2018, and the attention on nosocomial infection control in the same period in 2014.ResultsA total of 1 654 questionnaires were obtained, from 30 provincial-level regions, including 103 maternal and child health hospitals, 143 other special hospitals, 258 hospitals of traditional Chinese medicine, and 1 150 general hospitals. Hospitals upgraded more attention on nosocomial infection control in 2018 than in 2014 [(3.76±0.98) vs. (2.94±1.14) points; t=-36.112, P<0.001]. Currently, there were 5 068.5 labors engaged in nosocomial infection control. The educational background of the current practitioners was mainly nursing [60.52% (3 067.5)]. In the next 5 years, 83.50% (820/982) of the hospitals that had recruitment plans planed to recruit graduates specialized in the hospital infection control, and respectively, 44.86% (742/1 654) and 17.35% (287/1 654) of the respondents believed that the employment prospects of graduates with bachelor degree specialized in the hospital infection control were good or very good.ConclusionThere is a tremendous demand for the graduates specialized in the hospital infection control, and it is imperative to set up this undergraduate major.