Prevention and control of hospital acquired infections is a constant challenge for the nursing professionals. This study sought to grasp the social representations of hospital-acquired infections elaborated from the perceptions of nursing professionals, and to discuss how these representations influence their practices in controlling and preventing infections. This is a qualitative research, applied in a reference urgency-emergence service, which used as a data collection technique the semi-structured interview, and for content analysis the category elaboration. It was observed that the execution of the activities is closely tied to the individual subjectivities of each professional and deeply dependant on the moral, ethical, ideological and subjective values of these professionals, regarding interpretation, judging and personal decision in the application of the scientific knowledge.
Hospital Infection; Prevention and Control; Nursing