Abstract: Objective: To investigate the working status of nurses with master or doctoral degree in tertiary hospitals. Methods: Totally 115 nursing managers and 1 522 nurses with master or doctoral degree were recruited form 115 tertiary hospitals in 22 provinces. They were investigated by using self-designed questionnaires. Results: The proportion of nurses with master or doctoral degree in tertiary hospitals ranged from 0.1% to 8.8% (median was 0.7%). Among them, 28.6% had special nurse qualification certificate; 5.0% took part in special outpatient clinic independently and 46.6% organized rounds or consultation; 36.3% were engaged in management. In the field of teaching, 84.5% participated in clinical teaching and 43.7% in theory teaching, 26.0% held continuing education programs. In aspect of research work, 36.1% participated in research projects as a principal investigator, 77.1% published Chinese papers and 10.7% published papers in SCI journals as a first or corresponding author; 10.4% edited books or guideline as a chief editor and 8.0% were peer reviewers. Manager's satisfaction scores were lower than expectations (P<0.05). Conclusion: The proportion of nurses with master or doctoral degree is relatively low. It is suggested to improve the individualized training mode and objectives of the nurses, further clarify roles to make full use of their work potential and achieve personal value.