Abstract: Objective: To investigate the current status and influencing factors of PICC maintenance knowledge among nurses of primary hospitals in Hunan province. Methods: By stratified random cluster sampling, totally 552 nurses of primary hospitals in Hunan province were recruited and investigated by self-designed questionnaires. Results: The mean score of the PICC maintenance knowledge was 63.36±14.36. The accuracy of PICC maintenance knowledge in different dimensions was statistically significantly different (P<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the professional titles and the types of hospitals were the influencing factors of PICC maintenance knowledge among nurses of primary hospitals in Hunan Province. Conclusion: The nurses of primary hospitals in Hunan province have poor knowledge about PICC maintenance. Except health education dimension, other dimensions of knowledge status of PICC maintenance were in the low or middle level. The nurses in the community hospitals have worse knowledge of PICC maintenance compared with those in health clinics in towns and townships. The standardized PICC maintenance training for nurses of primary hospitals in Hunan province need be carried out urgently.

Key words: primary hospitals; PICC; maintenance; knowledge; influencing factors