The purpose of this study is to identify the handwashing knowledge and attitudes of resistered nurses on general wards. Subjects for this study include 182 nurses working in general wards of a hospital in Seoul area. Data were collected by a questionnaire from July 30 to August 10,1996. Statistical analyses were done by the SPSS/PC program. The techniques used in this sudy included frequencies, chi-square test. The results of this study are summarized as follows. 1. 34.6% of the respondents reported that they washed their hand an average of 5 to 7 times during the work day. 2. 38.5% of the respondents reported always washing after each patient contact. Only 9.9% always washed before contact with a patient. 3. 56.6% of the respondents reported a washing time of 10 to 20 seconds, whereas 29.1% washed 21 to 30 seconds. Chi-square tests were employed to determine any differences in handwashing frequency and duration by age, working years, work position. There were no satistically significant differences among the variables. 4. 95.6% of the subjects used water and plain soap during the washing process. The respondents washed the palms of the hands, the backs of their hands and between their fingers(33%). Only 17.6% removed rings before handwashing. Similarly, 11% removed their wristwatch. The majority(96.2%) reported that they used communal textile towel to dry their hands. When asked what method they used to turn off the water faucet after washing, 98.4% reported using direct hand-to-faucet contact. 5. Nursing activities that showed the highest handwashing rates was after wound dressing(22.9%), followed by suctioning(21.4%), injection(21.2%), inserting catheter(18%). 6. Reasons cited for reduced handwashing frequency included being too busy to wash more often(74.7%), no need to wash more often(11.0%) and dry skin caused by frequent handwashing(3.3%). 7. When asked where they obtained their current knowledge of handwashing techniques, they reported professors(73.6%), resisted nurses(14.8%) and supervisor(6.6%). 8. Nursing staff thought that proper handwashing was important factor in decreasing nosocomical infections(72.4%).