Background: At present, the global shortage of nurses is prominent. No research prove whether nursing managers can prevent the loss of nurses according to the characteristics of nurses’ occupational anchor types and their psychological capital level. Objective: To investigate the distribution of career anchor types and the status quo of psychological capital of newly graduated nurses and to analyze the influencing factors. Methods: 484 nurses graduated within 3 years from 5 public general hospitals were selected by convenience sampling. Career anchor and psychological capital questionnaire were used to investigate. Results: 481 valid questionnaires were collected. Career anchor type distribution is the most Secure /Stable, accounting for 48%, General Managerial Competence is the least, only 1.9%, psychological capital score of the Challenge type nurse is the highest (P<0.05). The residence and singleness of new graduated nurses were the influencing factors of Career capital score (P < 0.05); The age, single status, education background and residence of newly graduated nurses were the influencing factors for the classification of career anchor (P < 0.05). Conclusion: nursing managers can arrange appropriate nursing posts according to the characteristics and psychological capital level of different types of career anchor nurses to establish a stable nursing team.
