Objective To analyze the characteristics of nursing projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and to provide reference for nursing researchers. Methods We searched websites of NSCF, letPub, Medsci, and home for researchers, as well as electronic databases of CNKI, VIP and WanFang data, in combination with the use of search engines of Baidu, Sogou, and Bing, for nursing projects funded by NSFC. Results Totally 214 projects were funded by NSFC from 2006 to 2019, up to 71,501,600 Yuan RMB financial support. Nearly two-thirds (64.02%) of the project leaders had doctoral degree and most of them worked in universities or the projects depended on universities. The tertiary subject category of the funded projects was health management and policy (27.57%), health service management (18.22%), and rehabilitation medicine (6.07%)，respectively. Conclusion Although the number and money of nursing projects funded by NSFC increased significantly, there is still a gap between nursing and the other medical disciplines. In order to improve the success rate of nursing projects funded by NSFC, nursing researchers should closely follow the nation′s developmental needs and strengthen cooperation with other disciplines.