A study was designed to determine the characteristics, conduct, and impact of a good nurse from the point of patients in Korean university hospitals. The study was carried out at two university hospitals in Seoul and one university hospital outside of Seoul. A total of 600 patients(200 at each hospital)were surveyed. With respect to the characteristics of a good nurse, the study showed that patients believe that a good nurse should be kind, cheerful, sincere, trustworthy, considerate, and that nurses must treat patients like family members. In order to determine the conduct of a good nurse as viewed by patients, eight factors were considered, including compassion, professional pride, patient-centered caring, professional knowledge, trust, expertise, respect for patients, and advocacy. When attitudes towards the different factors were measured and converted to scores out of 100 percent, the factor that scored highest was professional knowledge(82.52), followed by professional pride(78.61), trust(78.11), and patient respect(76.90). As for the impact of a good nurse, patients reported that a good nurse induces trust, feelings of security, courage, and cheerfulness in patients. This research shows that a good nurse is conceived as someone who is friendly, bright, sincere, understanding, and treats the patient like family members. If a patient receives care from such a nurse, the patient will rely on the nurse, feel safe, have confidence in the struggle against his or her disease, and have a brighter disposition while undergoing care. Furthermore, although the professional knowledge and pride of nurses are important factors in a patient's care, for nurses to have an empathetic attitude toward patients, it is suggested that they receive continued education.