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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe hospital nurses' knowledge and beliefs about hand hygiene and to identify the relationships between knowledge and beliefs. Methods: Data were collected from 232 nurses working in four university hospitals and were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 20.0 program. Results: The mean score of knowledge of hand hygiene was 8.1. The mean scores of behavioral, normative, and control belief about hand hygiene were 2.3, 2.5, and -0.7, respectively. Knowledge was correlated with educational level (p=.013) and experience of hand hygiene campaign (p=.018). The behavioral belief was correlated with age (p<.001) and career (p=.002). The normative belief was correlated with work department (p=.007). The control belief was correlated with educational level (p=.043) and experience of being monitored on hand hygiene (p=.010). The subjects who believed that head nurses, charge nurses, and colleagues practiced better hand hygiene had higher behavioral and normative belief scores than those who did not. There were no significant relationships between knowledge and beliefs. Conclusion: There is a need to improve knowledge of hand hygiene in hospital nurses. This study provides information for developing strategies to strengthen beliefs about hand hygiene.