Objective To investigate the current condition and correlation of coaching leadership ability and psychological capital of nursing managers. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at the National Nursing Conference on Efficient Nursing Management and Clinical Practice in the Context of Great Health in June 2018. Totally 217 nursing managers from 107 hospitals and 38 regions were selected by convenience sampling and investigated by the General Information Questionnaire, Coaching Leadership Perception Assessment Scale (CLPAS) , and Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ) . Rank-based non-parametric statistical method was used to compare the scores of coaching leadership of nursing managers with different general information. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between coaching leadership and psychological capital, and stratified regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of coaching leadership. A total of 222 questionnaires were distributed with 217 valid ones retrieved, yielding an effective recovery rate of 98%. Results The 217 nursing managers achieved a total score of (64.15±6.19) points from CLPAS, (90.00±9.31) points from PCQ, there was positive correlation among each dimensions in CLPAS and PCQ (P<0.01) ; there was good effect of the psychological capital in predicting the coaching leadership ability (P<0.01) . Conclusions The coaching leadership ability of nursing managers needs to be improved. The psychological capital of nursing managers will affect their coaching leadership ability and should be paid attention to; effective measures should be taken to improve the psychological capital of nursing managers so that it can play a greater role in the nursing team and improve the efficiency of nursing management. Key words: Nurse administrators; Coaching leadership; Psychological capital; Correlation