Objective To explore the current situation and influencing factors that affect stroke specialist nurses in Henan Province and provide a reference for targeted interventions.Methods A total of 140 stroke specialist nurses from over 103 general hospitals in Henan Province were selected to participate the study with the convenience sampling method,between March and November 2022.General data questionnaire and the core competence evaluation questionnaire of stroke specialist nurses in Henan Province were employed for the investigation.Influencing factors were analysed by binary Logistic regression.Results A total of 134 specialist nurses responded to the survey.The findings revealed that the total score of core competence in the stroke specialist nurses was 279.5(257.0,306.0).Among the dimensions of core competence,the clinical thinking ability scored the highest at 4.4(4.0,4.9),while professional development ability scored the lowest at 3.7(3.4,4.0).Cluster analysis categorised that the scores＜250 were of a low score group(n=26)and those≥250 were of a high score group(n=108).Binary Logistic regression analysis indicated that education level,years working as a stroke specialist nurse,and the working experience in the stoke fast track team of A&E were the factors that influenced the core competence of the stroke specialist nurses in Henan Province(all P＜0.05).Conclusions This study has found that the core competence of stroke specialist nurses in Henan Province is at an acceptable level.Education,years working as a stroke specialist nurse and the working experience in the fast track team of A&E are the primary factors which influence core competence.Nursing managers should devise supportive programs to target the influencing factors and to improve the core competence of the stroke specialist nurses.