Abstract Aims: To describe the perceived barriers to nurses performing physical assessments of patients in rehabilitation wards. Secondarily, to investigate how sociodemographic and professional characteristics influence the use and frequency of physical assessments by nurses and their perceptions of barriers to their practice. Design: A multicentre, cross-sectional, observational study. Methods: Data were collected from September to November 2020 among nurses working with inpatients in eight rehabilitation care institutions in French-speaking Switzerland. Instruments included the Barriers to Nurses' use of Physical Assessment Scale. Results: Almost half of the 112 nurses who responded reported performing physical assessments regularly. The predominant perceived barriers to performing physical assessments were ‘specialty area’, ‘lack of nursing role models’ and ‘lack of time and interruptions’. Greater clinical nursing experience in rehabilitation wards and more senior nurse specialist positions were associated with significantly lower use of physical assessment procedures by nurses. Conclusion: The present study revealed heterogeneity in the use of physical assessment by nurses practicing in rehabilitation units and highlighted their perceived barriers to this. Impact statement: Most nurses working in rehabilitation care units did not routinely perform physical assessments as part of their daily clinical practice. These results should raise stakeholders' awareness of this fact. Effective interventions to increase the use of physical assessments in nursing practice are to be recommended, including continuing education or hiring enough highly qualified nurses as role models in wards. This will promote quality of care and patient safety in rehabilitation care units. Public and patient engagement and involvement: There was no patient or public involvement in the present study.