Objective To explore the relationship between support for nurses as second victims and hospital patient safety culture, and to provide reference for the second victim intervention. Methods Totally 2 897 nurses who had experienced patient safety incidents from 6 general grade three hospitals in 3 provinces of central and west China were selected using convenience sampling, then they were investigated using Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) and the Second Victim Experience and Support Tool (SVEST). Results The total score of SVEST for second victims was 30.91±6.75，the dimension score in descending order was institutional support (2.57±0.68), colleague support (2.41±0.62), non-work-related support (2.29±0.92), supervisor support (2.25±0.71). The total score and each dimension score of SVEST were negatively correlated with the total score and each dimension score of HSOPSC（P＜0.01 for all）. Teamwork within units and frequency of events reported were important influencing factors of second victim support（P＜0.01 for both）. Conclusion The support among nurses as second victims of patient safety incidents is low, and it has something to do with their cognition of hospital patient safety culture. Hospital managers should pay attention to building the teamwork within units, encouraging adverse events reporting, and establishing multiple layers and formal organizational and supportive system based on colleague-superior-organization.