Background During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, nursingstudents have suffered moderate levels of stress, higher than that of students in otheracademic majors. Purpose This study explores the validity and reliability of theStress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 Items (SAVE-6) scale as a measurementtool for anxiety responses of nursing students to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods An online survey was conducted from 8–10 December, 2021 in SouthKorea. A total of 227 nursing students participated in the survey, which includedthe rating scales SAVE-6, 9-question Patients Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), andGeneralized Anxiety Disorders-7 (GAD-7). Results A confirmatory factor analysisshowed a good fit for the single factor structure model of SAVE-6 (χ2/df = 2.86,CFI = 1.00, TLI = 1.013, RMSEA = 0.000, and SRMR = 0.036). SAVE-6 showedgood internal consistency and reliability based on Cronbach’s alpha (0.833) andMcDonald’s Omega (0.838). Furthermore, it revealed good convergent validity withthe GAD-7 (r = 0.518, p < 0.001) and PHQ-9 scores (r = 0.261, p < 0.001). Theappropriate cut-off score of the SAVE-6 in accordance with the mild degree ofGAD-7 (≥ 5) was 15 (area under the curve = 0.783, sensitivity = 0.82, specificity= 0.61). Conclusions SAVE-6 can measure nursing students’ virus-related anxietyduring the COVID-19 pandemic with good reliability and validity.