OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence and epidemiological characteristics of nosocomial infections in critical care medicine departments of 15 general hospitals in a city from 2020 to 2022.

METHODS The monitoring data of nosocomial infections were collected from the patients who were hospitalized in the general ICUs of 15 general hospitals in Ji′an city, Jiangxi Province from Jan. 2020 to Dec. 2022.

RESULTS A total of 15, 034 case-times of hospitalized patients of ICU were monitored, 693 (611 cases) of which had nosocomial infections, the incidence of nosocomial infection was 4.06%, and the case-time infection rate was 4.61%. The patients who had respiratory system infections ranked the first place among the patients with nosocomial infections. The patients who had instrument-associated infections accounted for 57.58%; the incidence rates of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) were 2.03‰, 0.32‰ and 6.55‰, respectively. Gram-negative bacteria were dominant among the pathogens, accounting for 78.07%. Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii was the predominant multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO), accounting for 80.65%. The incidence (case-time infection rate) of nosocomial infections, incidence of infections of urinary system, VAP and CAUTI showed downward trends with the increasing years. As compared with the medical institutions in different grades, the incidence (case-time infection rate)of nosocomial infections, incidence of CRBSI, incidence of VAP and incidence of CAUTI of the tertiary hospitals were respectively 5.25%(6.01%), 0.69‰, 9.34‰ and 4.23‰, higher than 3.50%(3.94%), 0.07‰, 4.22‰ and 0.92‰ of the secondary hospitals; the isolation rates of gram-negative bacteria and MDRO of the tertiary hospitals were respectively 81.66% and 65.33%, higher than 72.61% and 46.96% of the secondary hospitals(all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION The incidence of nosocomial infection is low in the general ICUs in Ji′an city, however, it is necessary for the general ICUs of tertiary hospitals to focus on the control of instrument-related infections and MDRO and strengthen the prevention and control of nosocomial infections.