Objective To explore the mediating effect of job burnout between hospice care perception capability and self-competence in death work among oncology medical staff, so as to provide evidence for improving self-competence in death work of this population. Methods From February to May 2024, a total of 344 medical staff in oncology department were selected conveniently from 5 class A tertiary general hospitals in northwest of Hubei Province, then they were investigated by using the End-of-life Professional Caregiver Survey (EPCS), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Self-Competence in Death Work Scale (SC-DWS). Results The total score of self-competence in death work, hospice care perception capability and job burnout of the participants was (53.01±10.32), (74.52±18.71) and (56.43±18.68) respectively. The perceived capability of hospice care was negatively correlated with job burnout, while was positively correlated with self-competence in death work, and job burnout was negatively correlated with self-competence in death work(all P<0.05). Job burnout played a partial mediating role between hospice care perception ability and self-competence in death work (P<0.05), and the mediating effect accounted for 14.5% of the total effect. Conclusion Job burnout plays a mediating role between hospice care perception capability and self-competence in death job among medical staff in oncology department, hospital managers should take active measures to improve their hospice care perception capability, and reduce their job burnout, in order to enhance their self-competence in death work.