Purpose: This study aimed to investigate factors affecting the problem solving ability of nursing students. Methods: The data in this study was collected through structured questionnaires from September 1st to October 30th, 2021. Study participants were 172 fourth grade nursing students at four departments of nursing located in B and K city. IBM SPSS WIN v 21.0. program with t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe' test, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression was used for data analysis. Results: The mean scores of academic self-efficacy was 3.88±051, empathy was 3.76±0.33, communication skills were 3.94±0.48, and problem solving ability was 3.70±0.40. There were significantly positive correlations between problem solving ability and academic self-efficacy (r=.45, p=<.001), empathy (r=.51, p=<.001), communication skills (r=.52, p=<.001), Factors affecting participants’ problem solving ability were empathy (β=.31, p=<.001), and communication skills (β=.23, p=.006), which explained about 38.4% of the problem solving ability. Conclusion: In this study, it is necessary to develop curricular and non curricular nursing program that can strengthen empathy and good communication skills together when developing programs that increase problem solving ability.