Objective To promote humanistic care ability of male undergraduate nursing students. Methods Eighty male undergraduate nursing students received humanistic care training through an elective course on caring and through increased learning hours in related courses. Eighty female counterparts were given conventional teaching. The effect was evaluated by using the Caring Ability Inventory (CAI). Results The total CAI score and subscale scores in male nursing students were significantly lower than female controls before the training （P＜0.01 for all）, but were significantly improved after the training （P＜0.01 for all） with no statistical differences compared with the female controls （P＞0.05 for all）. Conclusion The training can effectively improve humanistic care ability of male nursing students.