Background <p>The occupational stress experienced by nurses and their humanistic care characteristics directly influence the quality of nursing. Presenteeism serves as an external manifestation of occupational stress and may diminish nurses’ humanistic care capabilities. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the relationships among the occupational stress, presenteeism and humanistic care characteristics of nurses in China, as well as the mediating role of presenteeism.</p> Methods <p>In this cross-sectional study, 1,027 clinical nurses were recruited from 15 tertiary Grade A hospitals in China. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess their occupational stress, presenteeism, and humanistic care characteristics. A structural equation model was constructed via AMOS 23.0, and the mediating effect was tested via the bootstrap method.</p> Results <p>Occupational stress, presenteeism, and humanistic care characteristics were significantly negatively correlated (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.01). Presenteeism partially mediated the relationship between occupational stress and humanistic care characteristics.</p> Conclusions <p>Occupational stress is an important factor influencing and predicting humanistic care characteristics. Presenteeism serves as a mediating variable between occupational stress and humanistic care characteristics, providing theoretical support for identifying crucial intervention points. Nursing managers should focus on nurses’ occupational stress and presenteeism behaviors, which can contribute to enhancing nurses’ humanistic care characteristics.</p>