Objective To translate the Reality Shock Scale (RSS) from English to Chinese, and to test the reliability and validity of the Chinese scale. Methods According to the Brislin′s model of translation, back-translation, cultural adaptation and pretest were performed to generate the Chinese version of the RSS. Then 244 newly graduated nurses with less than one year of experience were surveyed to test the reliability and validity of the scale. Results Exploratory factor analysis identified 4 common factors, accounting for 56.054% of the total variance. The scale included four dimensions, namely relations and cooperation, professional knowledge, responsibilities, and performance, totaling 41 items. The item-level Content Validity Index (CVI) were between 0.833 and 1.000, and the scale-level CVI/average agreement was 0.961. The overall Cronbach′s α coefficient was 0.960 and the test-retest reliability was 0.881. Conclusion The Chinese version of the RSS is valid and reliable for measuring reality shock of newly graduated nurses, thus to help nurse managers to understand nurses′ transition to the profession.