Objective To improve the quality of clinical teaching for nursing interns in orthopedic department. Methods Fifty-eight undergraduate nursing students practicing in orthopedic department were divided into a control group of 30 and an intervention group of 28. The control group was employed traditional clinical mentoring, while the intervention group received clinical teaching by using a home-made rotary plate for presentation of patient′s manifestations, nursing problems and nursing interventions according to the Omaha system.The teaching effect was evaluated after the orthopedic internship. Results The scores of orthopedic nursing knowledge and case analysis in the intervention group were significantly higher than those in the control group （P＜0.01 for both）. All students in the intervention group were qualified in the test aiming to identify nursing problems in 4 domains of the Omaha system. Conclusion The application of rotary plate for presentation of the Omaha system enhances clinical teaching quality in orthopedic department.