Objective To explore the current situation and influencing factors of death coping ability of nursing students before internship, so as to provide a reference for the education and training of nursing students before internship.Methods From January 2024 to February 2024, the pre-internship nursing students of a university were investigated with General Information Questionnaire, Chinese version of Coping with Death Scale, Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory and Death Education Training Demand scale.Results Among the 1006 pre-internship nursing students surveyed, the total score of the Death Coping Competence Scale was (128.91±30.06). The item mean scores were as follow: The Life Reflection Competence dimension: (5.06±1.31); The Ability to Communicate with Others about Dying or Death dimension: (4.84±1.19); Coping with Death Scale dimension: (4.57±1.26);The Self-Acceptance of Death dimension: (4.46±1.29); The Self-Perception and Expression of Death dimension: (4.46±1.17); The Ability to Handle Post-Death Matters dimension: (4.28±1.29).The results of multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the main influencing factors of pre-internship nursing students included being an only child, frequency of death-related conversations at home, whether they had read death-related books or materials, attitudes towards death, whether they had taken hospice care education courses, as well as the openness dimension and extraversion dimension of personality traits (p < 0.05).Conclusion According to the investigation, the death coping ability of pre-internship nursing students was in the moderate level before internship. Colleges and universities should increase the courses related to life and death education and hospice care, improve the ability of nursing students to face death with a positive attitude, and provide better services for patients.