Introduction: The use of standardized tools to assess nursing students’ skills in relation to the principles of basic mechanical ventilation is essential.

Objective: Given the absence of a valid and reliable checklist in this area, the present study was conducted to design and evaluate the validity and reliability of a checklist for assessing nursing students’ skills in basic mechanical ventilation.

Materials and Methods: This methodological study was carried out at the  Nursing School, Aja University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, in 2023–2024. Based on the educational content of the undergraduate nursing curriculum on mechanical ventilation principles, a skills assessment checklist was developed. Face validity was examined both qualitatively and quantitatively by ten practicing nurses. Content validity was assessed using expert review and calculation of the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and Content Validity Index (CVI). Reliability was evaluated through inter-rater agreement and internal consistency, using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.

Results: The final checklist consisted of 25 items across four main domains, with a total score ranging from 0 to 100. All items met the criteria for face and content validity. The average CVR and CVI were 0.88 and 0.976, respectively, with a universal agreement S-CVI of 0.80. Inter-rater agreement and internal consistency were confirmed with coefficients of 0.948 and 0.884, respectively.

Conclusion: The developed checklist demonstrated satisfactory validity and reliability, making it a suitable tool for assessing the skills of nursing students and novice nurses in intensive care units regarding basic mechanical ventilation principles. Further studies are recommended to examine additional psychometric properties of the instrument.