Table 1.

Participating hospital and healthcare workers' characteristics

Country	Focus group session	Hospital type and number	Staff types	Length of employment at hospital (years)
UK	Group 1	Urban teaching hospital n = 1	Ward manager	9
			Infection control nurse	12
			Directorate manager	30
			Clinical nurse specialist	6
			Ward manager	20
			Occupational health nurse	12
			Matron	21
	Group 2		Consultant in infectious diseases	3
			A&E nurse	10
			Sister	5
			Registrar	2
			Medical trainee	3
			A & E matron	-- *
			Outside contractor/payroll	-- *
Greece	Group 1	Urban teaching hospital n = 1	Nurse manager	4
			Nurse in infectious diseases	15
			Unit director of A & E	12
			Occupational health practitioner	9
			Professor of medicine	-- *
			Nurse	-- *
			Nurse	-- *
			Nurse in physiology	22
			Director of infectious disease unit	23
			Nurse	10
			Medical practitioner	5
			Infectious disease nurse	2
			Infectious disease physician
			Infectious disease physician
			Infectious disease physician
			Infectious disease nurse	-- *
Germany	Group 1	Urban hospitals n = 3	Hospital hygienist	2
			Hospital hygienist	3
			Senior physician and hospital hygienist	3
Hungary	Group 1	Urban hospitals n = 6	Physician, hospital epidemiologist and head of hospital hygiene and epidemiology department	25
			Nurse specialist for infection control	27
			Infection control manager and head of sterilisation unit	5
			Hospital epidemiologist head of hospital hygiene and epidemiology department and public health inspector	30
			Hospital epidemiologist and head of hospital hygiene and epidemiology department	25
			Medical hospital epidemiologist head of hospital hygiene and epidemiology department	20
	Group 2	Urban Hospital n = 1	Consultant in internal medicine	26
			Registrar for internal medicine	0.75
			Intensive care nurse	15
			Infectious disease nurse	39
			Nurse in neurology department	21
			Nurse in neurology department	9
			Nurse in internal medicine department	14
			Nurse in internal medicine department	6
			Nurse in chronic/long term internal medicine	31
			Nurse in chronic/long term internal medicine	19

*missing data