Aim <p>To investigate the current status of the ability to communicate bad news through latent profile analysis (LPA), identify potential subgroups and their population characteristics, and analyze the influencing factors of different categories.</p> Background <p>The ability of nurses to communicate bad news is a crucial skill in clinical practice. However, heterogeneity in nurses’ ability to communicate bad news and the factors influencing it have not been fully explored. Assessing the relationship with psychological resilience and work engagement is essential for understanding how these factors impact nurses’ communication abilities.</p> Methods <p>This cross-sectional and multicenter study surveyed 274 Chinese nurses using a convenience sampling method. A demographic characteristics questionnaire, Communicating Bad News Scale (CBN), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and Utrecht work engagement scale (UWES) were used in this study, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.92, 0.91, and 0.92, respectively. Statistical analyses were performed using Mplus 8.3 and SPSS 26.0. Latent profile analysis was employed to identify nurses’ ability to communicate bad news profiles using the CBN Scale. After identifying profiles via LPA, we examined their associations with psychological resilience and work engagement. Differences in sociodemographic characteristics across profiles were assessed via ANOVA, chi-square tests, and multinomial logistic regression was used to identify predictors of profile membership.</p> Results <p>A three-profile model provided the best fit. The 3-profile were titled “Low Communicating Bad News Group” (Class 1, <i>n</i> = 52, 18.98%), “Medium Communicating Bad News Group” (Class 2, <i>n</i> = 44, 16.06%), and “High Communicating Bad News Group” (Class 3, <i>n</i> = 178, 64.96%). Regression analysis suggested that place of birth, psychological resilience, and work engagement were influencing factors of nurses’ ability to communicate bad news (<i>P</i>&lt;0.05).</p> Conclusion <p>Chinese nurses’ ability to communicate bad news was moderate and heterogeneous, and could be categorized into three potential profiles. Nursing administrators should promptly identify and focus on the “low ability to tell bad news group” and carry out targeted interventions to improve their ability to tell bad news and enhance the quality of nursing services.</p> Impact <p>This study is the first study to explore the latent profiles of nurses’ ability to communicate bad news in China. Insights from this research are useful for nursing management to identify different competence profiles of nurses, and provide targeted support and training tailored to individual needs, ultimately enhancing the quality of nursing services.</p> Clinical trial number <p>Not applicable.</p>