Objective To explore the current situation of nurses’emergency response ability of public health emergencies and analyze its influencing factors in Yunnan province, so as to provide empirical basis for the construction of emergency response ability training system in the future. Methods A total of 4 821 clinical nurses from 43 hospitals in Yunnan province were selected by convenience sampling. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using the general information questionnaire, Nurses' Public Health Emergency response Capacity Scale and Nurses’Emergency attitude scale. The influencing factors were analyzed by stepwise multiple linear regression. Results The total score of public health emergency response ability of clinical nurses in Yunnan Province was (70.35±14.08), and the total score of public health emergency response attitude was (42.26±6.14). Gender, department, hospital level, working years, whether to participate in public health emergency training, whether to experience rescue activities in public health emergencies, and attitude towards public health emergencies were the influencing factors of nurses’public health emergency response ability (P < 0.05), which explained 29.0% of the total variation. Conclusions The ability of clinical nurses to respond to public health emergencies in Yunnan Province is generally above the medium level, but there is still a significant shortage in emergency knowledge. Targeted training is needed. Nursing management should build targeted layered training programs combined with influencing factors to enhance nurses’ability to respond to public health emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]