Abstract: Nurses’ cognition of palliative care plays an important role in the nursing practice. This article reviewed the current situation of nurses’ cognition of palliative care and its influence factors and improvement measures. The main influence factors included demographic factors (age, work experience, department, job title, education and religion), nurses lacking of relevant knowledge of palliative care (the weak awareness of pain management and the lack of psychological knowledge), the constraint of traditional idea of death and the lack of social support. The measures included standardizing and popularizing palliative care education, establishing a correct idea of death, and strengthening the support of organizations. The aim of this review is to provide reference for promoting the researches on nurses’ cognition of palliative care in our country.