Objective To explore the effects of “shadow” experience activity in Surgical Nursing. Methods A total of 82 year three students from two classes of grade 2017 were recruited by convenience sampling and they were divided into the experimental group（41） and the control group（41）. The “shadow” experiential teaching method was used in the experimental group while the traditional teaching method was used in the control group. Results After the intervention,the results of final examination in the experimental group were better than those in the control group（P<0.05）. The total score of the critical thinking ability in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group（P<0.05）. Students in the experimental group had a high evaluation on “shadow” experiential teaching. Conclusion The “shadow” experience activity is helpful to consolidate students' theoretical knowledge and improve their critical thinking ability.