Objective　To explore the effect of reflecting diary training on the ability of critical thinking of nursing students. Methods　By cluster sampling

248 nursing students were selected and ran-domly divided into intervention group and control group with 124 students in each group. The intervention group received reflective journal training apart from the general clinical internship

while control group re-ceived general clinical internship. The critical thinking ability between groups were evaluated and compared before training

6 months after training (T2) and 1 year after training (T3) by using the Chinese version of Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CTDI-CV). The performed satisfaction of intervention group evalu-ated in T2 and T3. Results　There were no significant difference of the CTDI-CV scores between groups before training (P>0.05). It was found that the intervention group performed better and had higher scores than the control group in CTDI-CV and dimensions including searching for truth

open-mindedness

analyti-cal ability

systematic ability

critical thinking

self-confidence

curiosity and cognitive maturity at T2 and T3. The intervention group had a high-level of satisfaction of this training program. The satisfaction of each item at T2 was over 90.2%

and at T3 was over 88.6%. Conclusion　Reflecting journal training can improve the critical thinking ability of nursing students. The training program was well-received by nurses.