Objective To investigate the acceptance and attitude towards male nurses among community residents and hospitalized patients，and provide evidence for educating eligible male nursing students and stabilizing male nursing team in hospitals. Methods Totally 297 community residents and 241 hospitalized patients or relatives were investigated with a self-deigned questionnaire. Results 60.27%（179/297） of community residents and 72.20% （174/241） hospitalized patients or relatives knew about or cared by male nurses，43.43% （129/297） of community residents and 70.12% （169/241） of hospitalized patients would like to accept nursing care by male nurses. The awareness and acceptance of hospitalized patients was significantly higher than that of community residents（P<0.01）. Male hospitalized patients，community residents and hospitalized patients with higher educational level showed higher acceptance towards male nurses （P<0.05 or P<0.01）. The main factors which people were reluctant to male nurses were traditional concept，considering the privacy，sense of occupational accomplishment，poor operating capacity and lack of communication ability. Conclusion The awareness towards male nurses of community residents and hospitalized patients needs to be improved，and male nurses should develop occupation planning as early as possible.