Objective:To analyze the current situation and shortcomings of the research on nurses'empathy ability in China by using the method of bibliometrics,in order to provide some reference for the related scholars in this field.Methods:All articles on nurses'empathy ability in China was retrieved from CNKI,Wanfang database,VIP database and CBM until June 30,2018.Results:A total of 108 articles were included and distributed in 23 provinces,municipali ties and autonomous regions.Among them,Hunan and Hebei province had the largest number of documents;The proportion of literature had fund supports was 16.67%;the literature was included in 48 periodicals,and 18 articles(16.67%)were published in Chinese Nursing Research;the research institutions were mainly hospitals,79(73.15%).A total of 69 articles(63.89%)were non-experimental study,but the qualitative research papers was 0.Conclusion:The research on empathy of nurses in China is still in its infancy,and there are still some problems such as uneven regional distribution,lack of fund support,single type of research and the depth of research content need to be further improved.Therefore,in the future research,we should pay attention to strengthen cooperation and exchanges between regions and encourage relevant scholars to be brave in innovation,so as to promote the further development of research on the empathy ability of nurses in China.