Abstract Aim To investigate the relationship among emotional intelligence (EI), resilience and academic procrastination (AP), and provide suggestions for the development of targeted intervention strategies and lowering of AP level of nursing undergraduates. Design A cross‐sectional study. Methods Three provincial universities offering nursing courses in China were investigated in this study. A convenience sample of 256 nursing undergraduates from May 2021 to September 2021 were recruited, with a response rate of 91.4%. Data were collected using face‐to‐face interviews. The survey tools included the General Information Questionnaire, Academic Procrastination Scale, Emotional Intelligence Scale and Resilience Scale. IBM SPSS v19.0 and Amos 22.0 were used for data analysis. Results The AP of sampled nursing undergraduates was at the middle level (54.4 ± 21.5). The AP of nursing undergraduates was negatively correlated with EI and resilience. Moreover, the analysis on the mediating role of resilience via structural equation model showed a good fit, with χ2/df = 2.34, RMSEA = 0.07, CFI = 0.99, GFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.98. Patient or Public Contribution No patient or public contribution.