Objective To explore the influence effect of the Presentation-Assimilation-Discussion（PAD） class in anatomy on the training of clinical thinking ability for nursing undergraduates. Methods A total of 120 nursing undergraduates from 4 classes enrolled in 2020 were randomly divided into experimental group and control group according to class. The experimental group implemented the PAD class，the control group implemented the traditional teaching method. The teaching effect was evaluated by examination scores and clinical thinking ability scores. Results The usual scores（t=5.150） and the final examination scores（t=7.060） of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group（P<0.05）. There was no significant difference in the scores of clinical thinking ability between the two groups before the implementation of teaching（P>0.05），after the implementation of teaching，the scores of critical thinking ability（t=4.557），systematic thinking ability（t=3.667），evidence-based thinking ability （t=5.975） and total scores（t=6.809） of the experimental group were higher than those of the control group（P<0.05）. Conclusion The teaching effect of PAD class in anatomy teaching is good，and it is beneficial to cultivate nursing students’ clinical thinking.