Objective To investigate the current status of reflective practice among nurses working in geriatric-related departments and to explore its influence on their motivation for elderly care voluntary service, thereby providing a reference for developing targeted measures to enhance such behaviors.Methods A convenience sampling method was employed to survey 830 nurses from ge-riatric-related departments across 11 tertiary general hospitals in Xi′an between January and May 2025.Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the Nurse Reflective Practice Questionnaire, and the Motivation Scale for Nurses′ Elderly Care Voluntary Service.Results The mean score for reflective practice among nurses in geriatric-related departments was 152.44±18.31, and the mean score for motivation for elderly care voluntary service was 91.51±12.40.Reflective practice, age, professional title, years of work experience, and frequency of participation in elderly care services were identified as significant influencing factors for nurses′ motivation for elderly care voluntary service (all P＜0.05).Reflective practice alone explained 14.4% of the total variance.Conclusion Both reflective practice and motivation for elderly care voluntary service among nurses in geriatric-related departments require further improvement.Leveraging the power of reflection and implementing stratified, tailored incentive strategies based on nurses′ age, professional title, years of experience, and frequency of service participation may effectively stimulate and strengthen motivation for elderly care voluntary service, thereby enhancing the overall quality of elderly care volunteer activities.