Objective To explore the experiences of nursing students with the emotional labor of clinical nursing teachers, and provide references for enhancing nursing students′ emotional management skills and optimizing teaching strategies.Methods Based on conservation of resources theory and emotional labor theory, a descriptive qualitative research method was adopted, involving semi-structured interviews with 16 intern nursing students from three Grade Ⅲ-A hospitals in Wuhan. Directed content analysis was used to analyze the data. Results Three themes and nine subthemes were identified:resource gain experience （emotional support, empathetic teaching, professional role models）, resource loss experience （emotional neglect, avoiding role conflict, superficial behavior）, and dynamic interaction between resource gain and resource loss （buffering effect, conflict effect, dynamic balance）.Conclusion The experiences of nursing students with the emotional labor of clinical nursing teachers exhibit a dual-path effect of resource gain and resource loss, which dynamically interact through buffering and conflict effects. It is necessary to fully recognize the impact of clinical nursing teachers′ emotional labor on nursing students, strengthen emotional management education and training for nursing teachers and nursing students, thereby enhancing nursing students′ psychological capital and optimizing their professional adaptability.