Objective To analyze the current promotion status of professional titles of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) management full-time professionals in medical institutions in Anhui Province. Methods A cross-sectional survey was designed. An electronic questionnaire survey was conducted among HAI management full-time professionals from all levels of medical institutions in 16 cities in Anhui Province by Anhui Province HAI Management Quality Control Center, and the data were analyzed. Results A total of 815 HAI management full-time professionals participated in the survey. 78.16% of the professionals were with nursing background; 25.89% had master's degree and higher; 55.95% held an intermediate-level professional titles; 49.45% engaged in HAI management for less than 5 years; most professionals with advanced title were from tertiary medical institutions. There were significant differences in the pursuing route of professional title promotion among HAI management full-time professionals with different professional backgrounds: 91.94% of clinical medical professionals chose the medical promotion route; 96.55% of nursing professionals chose the nursing promotion route; 75.41% of public health professionals chose the medical promotion route; 84.61% of laboratory professionals and 50.00% of pharmacy profe-ssionals chose the medical technician promotion route. 43.31% of HAI management full-time professionals were generally satisfied with the current status of professional title promotion, only 5.65% being very satisfied. The main cause why HAI management full-time professionals were dissatisfied with professional title promotion was "current professional title promotion evaluation standards", accounting for 45.60%. There was a statistically signi-ficant difference in the evaluation on the difficulty in promoting to the next level of professional title among full-time professionals with different professional titles (P < 0.001). The higher the professional title, the more difficult it was to be promoted to the next level. 48.22% of HAI management full-time professionals thought the difficulties in promoting their professional titles was due to "the lack of professional and technical titles in HAI management", fo-llowed by "low promotion rates" (10.43%) and "weak competitiveness in promotion based on their original positions" (9.69%). Conclusion Professional title promotion route for HAI management full-time professionals in Anhui Province depends on their original professional fields, and promotion is generally difficult, especially to senior professional titles. It is urgent to establish an independent technical professional title series for HAI management as well as a matched evaluation and appointment mechanism to stabilize the talent team.