Objective To explore the mediating role of death anxiety among nurse interns between sense of meaning in life and attitude toward death. Methods 360 nursing interns in Hunan province were investigated by Templer's Death Anxiety Scale, Death Attitude Profile-Revised and The Meaning in Life Questionnaire. The mediation effect of death anxiety was examined using the PROCESS plug-in in SPSS software. Results 360 nursing students' attitude toward death were biased toward natural acceptance. Death anxiety partially mediated the relationship between a sense of the meaning of life and attitudes toward death and the mediating effect (0.002) accounted for 12.5% of the total effects (0.016). Conclusion Death anxiety plays a partial mediating role between nursing interns' sense of meaning in life and attitude towards death and nursing managers and educators should pay attention to nursing interns' sense of meaning in life and death anxiety level to help establish a positive attitude towards death.