Core self-evaluation is the basic evaluation and estimation of an individual's self-ability and value governing their behavior (Chang et al., 2012; Judge, 2009). Core self-evaluation covers four personality traits: self-esteem, general self-efficacy, emotional stability, and self-control (Chang et al., 2012; Judge, 2009). Previous studies found that nursing students' core self-evaluations were at a medium level (Hao, 2022; Ma et al., 2020). Specifically, nursing students' core self-evaluations yielded a total mean score of 33.35 on a scale ranging from 10 to 50 (Hao, 2022). Core self-evaluations affect nursing students' learning engagement, social interaction, and emotion management ability, even influencing their career adaptability and physical and mental health (Hao, 2022; Ma et al., 2020; Wang, Zhou, et al., 2023). Additionally, improving the core self-evaluations of nursing students can enhance their self-confidence and self-control, alleviate their social anxiety (Hao, 2022), and contribute to higher performance levels in their future nursing careers (Farčić et al., 2020). Given the importance of core self-evaluations in nursing students, identifying the factors related to core self-evaluations is essential for achieving precise intervention. Although sleep problems are associated with core self-evaluations among employees (Liu, 2018) and college students (Chen & Gao, 2022), they are rarely addressed in undergraduate nursing students. In addition, emotion regulation (including cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and resilience have been confirmed as influencing factors in nursing students' core self-evaluations (Zeng et al., 2023). However, they have not been considered together with sleep problems in one research framework. Therefore, exploring the influence of sleep problems, emotion regulation (including cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), and resilience on the core self-evaluations of undergraduate nursing students and further clarifying their specific interaction pathways may provide an empirical basis for developing targeted interventions to improve core self-evaluations.