Objective To explore the impact and mechanism of error aversion culture on perceived insider status and moral courage among nurses, and to provide references for strategies to improve nurses′ moral courage. Methods With convenient sampling, 693 nurses in seven secondary hospitals in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province were selected and surveyed by the general information questionnaire, the Error Aversion Culture Scale, the Perceived Insider Status Scale and the Moral Courage Scale. Results The scores of error aversion culture, perceived insider status and moral courage of nurses were (26.05±4.92), (27.99±3.15) and (84.28±9.48) points respectively. Error aversion culture was negatively correlated to moral courage （P＜0.01）; perceived insider status was positively correlated with moral courage （P＜0.01）; error aversion culture had partial mediating role between perceived insider status and moral courage status, with the mediating effect accounting for 15.74% of the total effect. Conclusion The overall level of moral courage among nurses was relatively high, and it could be improved by agreeably managing error aversion culture and enhancing perceived insider status.