Abstract: Objective: To analyze the development status of evidence-based nursing in mainland China. Methods:We searched and analyzed the evidence-based nursing literature published in CNKI, Wanfang Data, SinoMed, Pubmed,Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL and Web of Science databases from January 2001 to December 2014.Results: From January 2001 to December 2014, evidence-based nursing literature in mainland China showed a yearly increasing trend; Evidence-based nursing literature extended from the initial theoretical explanation to various types of literature, such as systematic review, education and clinical application; Literatures which reported standardized clinical application only accounted for 1.5%, while those misunderstanding the evidence-based nursing accounted for 77.8%. Conclusion: Evidence-based nursing in mainland China has been developing fast and comprehensively. However,the literature quality of evidence-based nursing needs urgent improvement and nurses' capacity to conduct evidence-based practice needs to be enhanced to carry out evidence-based nursing practice better.