en عمومى General پژوهشي Research <p>&nbsp;<strong> Introduction: </strong>As a key member of the healthcare workforce, nurses play an important role in patient care. N ursing care performance, especially sterilization, is of significant importance in provision of health and prevention of complications such as hospital infections. This study aimed to investigate nurses&rsquo; performance concerning sterilization while performing nursing techniques in ICU wards of educational hospitals affiliated to Birjand University of Medical Sciences.</p> <p>&nbsp;<strong> Methods: </strong>In this descriptive-analytic study, 36 nurses working in the ICU ward were selected by census method. A researcher-made observational checklist with three choices for each item was designed to check the sterilization techniques used by nurses in terms of obtaining intravenous (IV) access (10 items), <i>suctioning of the endotracheal tube</i> (7 items), and dressing (8 items).For each technique, a total score of&ge;75% was considered as good, between 50-75% as moderate, and <50% as poor performance. Content validity was used to confirm the validity of the checklist, and Cronbach&rsquo;s alpha was calculated 0.67 to confirm its reliability. Data were analyzed in SPSS (version 16) using independent t-test at the significant level of P<0.05.</p> <p>&nbsp;<strong> Results: </strong>Mean score in the suction technique (out of 21) was 15.3&plusmn;0.88 for which 8.3% of participants had good and 91.7% had moderate performance. As for the dressing technique, the mean score (out of 24) was 18.1&plusmn;0.68 for which 46.4% of participants had good and 53.6% had moderate performance. Mean score in the obtaining IV access (out of 30) was 18.64&plusmn;1.03 for which 100% of participants had moderate performance. No poor technical performance was observed, nor was there a Significant differences between the participants&rsquo; demographics and their performance.</p> <p>&nbsp;<strong> Conclusions: </strong>Nurses&rsquo; performance concerning sterilization techniques used in the ICU wards was moderate. Considering the results, periodic re-education programs are suggested to improve nurses&rsquo; performance.</p> Performance, Nurses, ICU 59 62 http://jsurgery.bums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-36-6&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Shahnaz Tabiee shahnaztabiee@bums.ac.ir 10031947532846003239 10031947532846003239 No Zahra Amouzeshi 10031947532846003240 10031947532846003240 No Seyyed Abolfazl Vagharseyyedin 10031947532846003241 10031947532846003241 Yes