en Nursing Orginal research <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height:2;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b>Background:</b></span><span style="color:black"> Intensive care unit (ICU)</span> <span style="color:black">nurses play a key role in preventive care. Their knowledge, attitudes, and performance in endotracheal suctioning and oral care are essential to prevent respiratory complications in intubated patients. </span></span><br> <span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b>Objective:</b></span><span style="color:black"> This study aimed to assess ICU nurses&rsquo; knowledge, attitudes, and performance regarding endotracheal suctioning and oral care in intubated patients, and to identify factors</span> <span style="color:black">associated with these</span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color:black">domains. </span></span>&nbsp;<span dir="RTL" lang="FA"><span style="color:black"></span></span></span><br> <span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b>Methods:</b></span><span style="color:black"> This cross-sectional study was conducted between May and November 2023 using a census of all 200 ICU nurses working in hospitals affiliated with Ardabil University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected using demographic form and a questionnaire on nurses&rsquo; knowledge and performance in endotracheal suctioning, and knowledge, attitudes, and performance in oral ca</span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color:black">re. Knowledge and attitudes were self-reported, while performance was observed using a checklist over two</span></span> <span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color:black">sessions. Data were analysed in SPSS v.23 using Pearson correlation, independent t-test, and ANOVA. </span></span><span dir="RTL" lang="FA"><span style="color:black"></span></span></span><br> <span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b>Results:</b></span><span style="color:black"> Nurses&rsquo; mean (SD) knowledge, attitudes, and performance were 65.2 (15.5), 39.2 (3.5), and 54.6 (26.5) for oral care, and 33.4 (10.9) and 70.9 (15.0) for endotracheal suctioning knowledge and performance. Significant differences were observed in oral care performance by gender (p= 0.004), marital status (attitude: p= 0.024; performance: p= 0.002), and education (p< 0.001), and in suctioning knowledge (p= 0.010) and performance (gender: p= 0.011; workshop: p< 0.01). </span></span><br> <span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b>Conclusion:</b></span><span style="color:black"> gap was observed between nurses&rsquo; knowledge and performance, especially in oral care, highlighting that improving clinical performance requires more than knowledge alone and may be influenced by factors such as gender, marital status, education, and training experience. </span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp;</div> Knowledge, Attitude, Task Performance, Nursing Care, Oral Hygiene, Endotracheal Suctioning 15 26 http://nmcjournal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1062-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 zohreh Hosseini Marznakii hosseinimarznaki@gmail.com 100319475328460014806 100319475328460014806 No Nurse, Master of Nursing, Imam Ali Amol Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Amol, Iran. mohammad hossein hakimi mhha5479@gmail.com 100319475328460014807 100319475328460014807 Yes Department of Nursing, Institute of Health Education, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.