Objective: To investigate the preference characteristics and relative importance of each core factor in the teaching program for undergraduate nursing students during clinical practice, and to provide empirical support for the creation of a student-centered, formalized clinical teaching system that meets the actual needs of nursing students. Methods: The quantitative research method of discrete choice experiment was adopted, and the questionnaire was designed based on the random utility theory. Through a systematic literature review, semi-structured interviews, and two rounds of Delphi expert consultations, six core attributes of the instructor, namely educational qualifications, teaching methods, frequency of individualized guidance, operational practice opportunities, feedback timeliness, and instructor title, and their corresponding levels were determined. The study period was from January 2024 to January 2025, and 158 undergraduate nursing students who chose to intern at Deyang People’s Hospital were selected as the research subjects. A survey tool with 12 choice sets was created using Ngene software, and then statistical analysis was performed on the obtained data using the conditional Logit model to measure the impact of each attribute on the choice behavior of nursing students. Results: The results showed that the conditional Logit model fitted well (likelihood ratio chi-square = 85.32, p < 0.001). The analysis results indicated that the most important teaching attributes for undergraduate nursing students were, in order: the academic qualifications of the teaching instructor (master vs. Junior college, β = 0.42, p < 0.01), individualized guidance frequency (daily vs. Weekly, β = 0.38, p < 0.01), operational practice opportunities (more vs. less, β = 0.31, p <  0.05), and the timeliness of feedback (timely versus delayed, β = 0.29, p < 0.05). The influence of the title of the instructor was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Undergraduate nursing students show a clear and systematic preference structure for clinical teaching, with a high expectation of frequent personalized guidance from highly educated teachers, as well as sufficient operational opportunities and timely teaching feedback.