Objective To explore the effectiveness of applying empathy map combined with scenario-based teaching in nurse-patient communication skills training for undergraduate nursing students. Methods A total of 114 undergraduate nursing students from a university were selected, and divided into 2 groups: class 1 (56 students) as the control group and class 2 (58 students) as the intervention group. The control group received conventional case-based teaching in nurse-patient communication skills training while the intervention group was subjected to empathy map combined with scenario-based teaching. At the end of the semester, the empathy ability and clinical communication ability of nursing students in both groups were evaluated. Results After the teaching, the intervention group outstripped the control group in terms of empathy ability and clinical communication ability scores (P<0.05 for both). Conclusion Application of empathy map combined with scenario-based teaching in nurse-patient communication skills training could improve clinical communication ability of undergraduate nursing students, as well as their empathy ability.