Background- In Ethiopia, institutionalization of deliveries are happening at a fast pace. Assessingrnthe knowledge and practice of midwives and nurses in these institutions is a priority in this currentrnscenario. The initial adaptations by the baby at the time of birth should be facilitated by thernmidwives by giving essential newborn care. Therefore, this study is aimed to identify whether therernis knowledge and performance gap on essential newborn care among the study participants.rnObjective- The objective of this study was to assess knowledge and practice of essential newbornrncare and associated factors among Nurses and midwives working at health centers of Jimma Zone.rnMethods- Quantitative cross-sectional facility based study design was conducted on midwives andrnnurses working at health centers of Jimma Zone. Simple random sampling method was used tornselect the estimated 279 study participants from those who provides delivery and neonatal care.rnSelf-administer questionnaires was distributed to participants to collect data and facilitated byrndata collectors. The data was entered to EpiData Manager and exported to statistical package forrnsocial sciences version 20 and analyzed. Finally, the results was illustrated in the form of text,rntables and graphs.rnResults-The mean knowledge score of study participants was 23.27 out of the 35 points. The studyrnrevealed that 52.2% and 47.8% of the respondents had good and poor knowledge about essentialrnnewborn care respectively. The mean score of practice of essential newborn care was 32.82 out ofrnthe total 48 points and 51.1% and 48.9% of the respondents had good and poor level of practicernrespectively. Field of study, educational level, interest to work in delivery room, in-service trainingrnwere significantly associated with level of essential newborn care practice.rnConclusion and recommendation- Even though the study population had good knowledge andrnpractice of essential newborn care in general, they had poor knowledge and practice on somerncomponents of essential newborn care. Level of education, interest to work in delivery room, in-rnservice training on newborn care and level of knowledge were found to be independent predictorsrnof practice. Hence, strengthening of practical based in-service training and areas those should bernemphasized, priority should be given for those trained to give delivery and newborn care service,rnand incorporation of all components of essential newborn care in curriculum were recommended.rnKey words-knowledge, practice, essential newborn care, midwives, nurses