Objective To investigate the need for nursing management knowledge (NMK) of clinical nurses and analyze the influencing factors. Methods Totally 9 342 nurses of 36 hospitals above grade Ⅱ in Beijing were investigated in terms of their need for NMK using a self-made questionnaire. Results Among all nurses, 51.1% were in great need of NMK, and 42.2% were in need of that. It was found that nurses in great need of NMK were head nurses or of higher position, who had systematic training or mastered NMK, or found NMK difficult to learn but useful (all P＜0.05). Conclusion Clinical nurses have high demand for NMK. Therefore, need-oriented training should be conducted for all nurses from the nursing department and hospital levels.