BACKGROUND Nurses are the element of the palliative care team who spend the most time with patients. Nurses' attitudes toward palliative care affect their behaviour toward their patients. OBJECTIVE This study sought to examine oncology and intensive care unit (ICU) nurses' attitudes toward palliative care in south-east Iran. METHODS A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the palliative care attitudes of 140 oncology and ICU nurses from three hospitals supervised by Kerman University of Medical Science. RESULTS Participants had moderately negative to neutral attitudes toward palliative care (2.99 ± 0.29 out of 5). Among all categories, the highest mean score came from the category of 'patient's preferences' (mean=3.66) and the lowest from the category of 'withholding and withdrawing treatment' (mean=2.42). A significant correlation was found between nurses' attitudes toward palliative care and some demographic characteristics, including marital status, type of ward, palliative care education, personal study about palliative care, level of education, and experience of caring for a dying family member. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that educational designers should include specific courses about death and palliative care in undergraduate and postgraduate nursing curricula. Educational programmes need to build on the specific experiences of death and dying among nurses and auxiliary nurses.