To explore the latent categories and influencing factors of airway care competency for inhalation injury among nurses in burn units.

In December 2024， nursing staff from 19 burn centers across 12 provinces and cities， including Shanghai， Beijing， and Jiangsu， were selected as the study subjects using convenience sampling. The survey was conducted using the general information questionnaire and the Airway Care Competency Evaluation Scale for Inhalation Injury. Latent profile analysis， univariate analysis， and multivariate logistic regression analysis were conducted to identify the different latent profiles and influencing factors of airway care competency for inhalation injury among nurses in burn units.

The airway care competency for inhalation injury among nurses in burn units could be categorized into three latent categories： low-level， medium-level， and high-level groups. Gender （OR=3.758， 95%CI： 1.065–13.267， P=0.040）， professional title （OR=5.273， 95%CI： 1.550–17.936， P=0.008）， employment type （OR=3.063， 95%CI： 1.486–6.314， P=0.002）， and whether they had participated in training related to inhalation injury airway care （OR=4.458， 95%CI： 2.191–9.071， P=0.000） were influencing factors for the potential profile classification between the low-level and medium-level groups. Years of work experience （OR=27.576， 95%CI： 2.043–372.149， P=0.012）， whether they had participated in training related to inhalation injury airway care （OR=2.925， 95%CI： 1.173–6.233， P=0.005）， and whether they had experience in inhalation injury care （OR=4.046， 95%CI： 1.295–12.635， P=0.016） were influencing factors for the potential profile classification between the low-level and high-level groups.

There exists heterogeneity in the airway care competency for inhalation injury among nurses in burn units. Managers should develop targeted training strategies based on the influencing factors of different latent categories to effectively improve airway care competency for inhalation injury of nurses.