As part of the 1995–2000 plan to combat nosocomial infections, the National Technical Committee on Nosocomial Infections and the Ministry of Health decided to conduct a national prevalence survey of nosocomial infections in 1996 across all public hospitals and certain private hospitals in order to raise awareness among healthcare professionals and obtain national epidemiological data on nosocomial infections. This was a point-in-time prevalence survey (data collected on a single day). All inpatient care settings were included in the survey: short-, medium-, and long-stay wards, as well as psychiatric wards. All patients present in the facility on the day of the survey were included in the study. Given the number of patients included, this study is, to date, the largest prevalence survey of nosocomial infections ever conducted in France or abroad. Its “decentralized” organization at the interregional level by each Center for the Coordination of the Fight against Nosocomial Infections (CCLIN) helped encourage participation by healthcare facilities, particularly those that had never previously conducted surveillance of nosocomial infections. (adapted from the text).