Abstract: Objective: To understand the status quo of intern nursing students' competence and analyze the influencing factors. Methods: Using convenience sampling method, 817 intern nursing students were surveyed by the general information questionnaire and the Chinese version of Nursing Students Competence Instrument. Results: The total score of intern nursing students' competence was (199.75±44.23) and the rate was 74.0%. Educational background, level of internship hospital, voluntary choice of nursing, training of communication between nurses and patients, relevant training of career planning, satisfaction with internship and liking degree of nursing specialty were the main influencing factors of intern nursing students' competence (P<0.001). Conclusions: The competence of intern nursing students is in the middle level. Nursing educators should pay attention to nursing students who have low educational background, choose nursing profession involuntarily and dislike nursing profession. Nurse-patient communication training and career planning should be provided throughout the teaching process. Nursing managers in internship hospitals should strengthen the training of nursing teachers and improve the nursing students' satisfaction with practice in order to enhance the competence of intern nursing students.

Key words: intern nursing students; competence; influencing factors