ObjectiveTo investigate the status of knowledge, attitude, and practice of patient identification in nurses, and provide a basis for clinical managers to carry out targeted training.MethodsA total of 3 696 nurses of tertiary, secondary, and primary hospitals in Guizhou Province were recruited and investigated for the status of knowledge, attitude, and practice of patient identification with a questionnaire by using convenient sampling in May 2019.ResultsThe scores of identification knowledge, attitude, and practice of the 3 696 nurses were 47.87±6.10, 27.39±3.15, and 57.19±4.86, respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that the higher the educational level was, the higher the score of nurses’ knowledge of patient identification was [odds ratio (OR)=1.592, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.084, 2.338), P=0.018]; the higher the personal monthly income was, the more positive the nurses’ attitude towards patient identification was [OR=1.570, 95%CI (1.005, 2.453), P=0.048].ConclusionsThe general situation of patient identification in nurses is good, but there are still differences among nurses with different characteristics. It is suggested that managers should pay special attention to the training of nurses with low educational level and low income, make them master the knowledge of patient identification, at the same time, improve their enthusiasm and standardize their behavior, so as to ensure the safety of patients.