Objective To improve clinical nursing instructors′ teaching ability. Methods Thirty-four clinical nursing teaching leaders were selected for teaching ability training, when guided by the American Nurses Credentialing Center （ANCC） nursing continuing education accreditation principles, a teaching ability training project for clinical nursing instructors was designed and implemented. The teaching leaders′ teaching ability before and after the training were compared. Results After the training，the scores of reciting performance，teaching design ability，teaching ability，comprehensive teaching ability of the teaching team leaders were significantly higher than those before the training (P<0.05,P<0.01). Conclusion The teaching ability training based on ANCC nursing continuing education accreditation principles, can accurately grasp the training needs of clinical nursing instructors and effectively improve their teaching ability. It is suggested to carry out ANCC continuing nursing education accreditation, so as to realize the stan-dardization of education process.