To explore the core competence of junior nurses in China and analyze its influencing factors by Meta-analysis, so as to provide a reference for improving the standardized training system of nurses and promoting scientific nursing management.

We searched Chinese and English databases such as China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) , WanFang Data, SinoMed, CINAHL, PubMed, and collected relevant literature on nurses' core competence published from the establishment of the database to May 30, 2022. Stata 16.0 was selected to perform meta consolidation on the data extracted from the included literature.

A total of 25 articles were included in the analysis, with a total sample size of 7 096. The average score of core competence items of junior nurses was 2.55 [95%CI (2.440, 2.670) ]. Meta-analysis results showed that working years [SMD=-0.364, 95%CI (-0.674, -0.055) ], professional titles [SMD=-0.102, 95%CI (-0.181, -0.022) ], interest in nursing specialty [SMD=0.443, 95%CI (0.325, 0.560) ], job satisfaction [SMD=0.323, 95%CI (0.225, 0.421) ], going out for further study/training [SMD=0.594, 95%CI (0.191, 0.996) ] and family support [SMD=0.370, 95%CI (0.174, 0.567) ] were the main factors influencing the core competence of junior nurses, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05) .

The core competence of junior nurses in China is in the middle level as a whole. Working years, professional titles, interest in nursing specialty, job satisfaction, going out for further study/training, and family support are the main influencing factors of new nurses' core competence. Nursing managers can improve the core competence and the overall quality of the nurses by providing opportunities for further education, improving the enthusiasm of new nurses for nursing, job satisfaction and social support.

Nurses; Junior; Core competence; Influencing factors; Meta-analysis