Objective To understand the status of basic compensation for nurses′night-shift and nursing age allowance, and provide reference basis for government to make policy. Methods A total of 956 nurses of 22 hospitals from 18 cities in Henan were investigated and analyzed by the Nurse Night-shift Compensation Status Questionnaire. Results The human resources allocation of 71.9% (687/956) respondents was not up to standard. The nurses were under labor intensity. 60.06%(574/956) nurses needed to go to the night-shift for 2-3 times every week. 86.21%(824/956) nurses thought the intensity of labor was mild light or relatively high. The swing night shift compensation of 16.1% (153/956) nurses was none. The graveyard shift compensation of 52.1%(498/956) nurses was 1 to 10 yuan. 90.49%(865/956) nurses thought inked the compensation for night shift was unreasonable. 26.31% (252/956) nurses didn′t receive any payment for the night shift. Conclusions The managers in hospital should attach importance to the legitimate rights and interests of the nurses, optimize the management of human resources and improve the status of nurse shift rotation. They also need to perfect the management of nursing project cost to reflect the nurse work value.