Objective To improve the teaching effects of palliative care in vocational nursing students. Methods A palliative care curriculum was designed based on Noddings′ theory of caring and then implemented in 152 vocational nursing students. The effect was evaluated after the teaching. Results The students scored 89.85±3.94 on course performance at the completion of the course. The scores of end-of-life care attitudes and caring ability of the nursing students significantly improved after the teaching intervention (both P<0.05). The reflective diaries revealed three main themes:enhanced awareness of palliative care, establishment of professional confidence in palliative care, and improvement of caring ability. Conclusion The optimization of the palliative care course contributes to a better understanding and application of course content by nursing students, resulting in a significant enhancement of teaching effectiveness.