Objective To identify the latent profiles of social suspiciousness among nursing interns, and to explore the relationship with career adaptability. Methods From May to July 2024, a total of 610 nursing interns were conveniently selected from three tertiary grade A general hospitals in Hunan province, and they were investigated by using a general information questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Social Suspiciousness Scale, and the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale-Short Form. Latent profile analysis was employed to identify the latent profiles of social suspiciousness, multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine their influencing factors, and one-way ANOVA was used to compare the levels of career adaptability among nursing interns in different social suspiciousness groups. Results The social suspiciousness of nursing interns was divided into three latent profiles: low suspiciousness-high trust group (69.5%), lower suspiciousness-high self-protection awareness group (24.9%), and moderate suspiciousness-low trust group (5.6%). The results of multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that, the number of close friends with frequent contact, the history of friend betrayal, and internship satisfaction were influencing factors of latent profiles of social suspiciousness among nursing interns (all P<0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed in career adaptability and each subscale score among the three groups of nursing interns (all P<0.05). Conclusion There is considerable heterogeneity in the level of social suspiciousness among nursing interns, and social suspiciousness influences their career adaptability. It is recommended that interventions be implemented for distinct categories of nursing interns with social suspiciousness based on the influencing factors, so as to enhance their career adaptability.