Objective  To investigate the status quo of knowledge-attitude-behavior about organ donation willingness and death attitudes of medical students majoring in nursing (nursing students).

  Methods  A total of 409 nursing students from 3 medical colleges in Tianjin were recruited as study subjects by convenient sampling method. A cross-sectional survey was carried out using organ donation scale and Chinese version of death attitude scale. Questionnaire input was performed by Epidata 3.1 software. The general situation of 409 nursing students was sumed up. The status quo of the knowledge-attitude-behavior about organ donation among nursing students and the correlation between the attitude towards death and the willingness to donate organs was analyzed.

  Results  The nursing students lacked of comprehensive understanding of organ donation knowledge. A majority of nursing students held neutral or slightly positive attitudes towards organ donation. Only 10.5% of nursing students were willing to donate organs. Nursing students were inclined to death natural acceptance. Organ donation willingness was correlated with death attitudes. The fear of death was the primary factor affecting the organ donation willingness of nursing students (P < 0.05).

  Conclusions  At present, a small proportion of nursing students are willing to donate organs and they are affected by the fear of death. Social and medical colleges should strengthen the death education for nursing students to establish positive death attitudes and promote the development of organ donation.