497

Law Offices

Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP

1250 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20036

202.822.9611

Direct Dial - (202) 419-8416

1933 Act Rule 497(e)

1933 Act File No. 333-40455

1940 Act File No. 811-08495

December 19, 2012

VIA EDGAR

Filing Desk

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE

Washington, DC 20549

Re:	Nationwide Mutual Funds (the “Registrant”)
	SEC File Nos. 333-40455 and 811-08495
	Rule 497(e) filing

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Enclosed for filing pursuant to Rule 497(e) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “1933 Act”) are exhibits containing interactive data format risk/return summary information that reflects the risk/return summary information in the Prospectus dated February 29, 2012, and revised as of December 6, 2012, relating to Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund, Nationwide Government Bond Fund, Nationwide Money Market Fund, Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund, each a series of the Registrant, as filed pursuant to Rule 497(e) under the 1933 Act on December 6, 2012 (Accession Number: 0001193125-12-493371).

Please direct questions or comments relating to this filing to me at the above-referenced telephone number.

Very truly yours,

/s/ Cillian M. Lynch

Cillian M. Lynch

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Nationwide Government Bond Fund

FUND SUMMARY: NATIONWIDE GOVERNMENT BOND FUND

Objective

The Fund seeks as high a level of current income as is consistent with preserving capital.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay when buying and holding shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Nationwide Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in “Investing with Nationwide Funds” commencing on page 24 of this Prospectus and in “Additional Information on Purchases and Sales” commencing on page 78 of the Statement of Additional Information.

Shareholder Fees (paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees Nationwide Government Bond Fund	Class A Shares	Class B Shares	Class C Shares	Class R2 Shares	Institutional Service Class Shares
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	4.25%	none	none	none	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	none	5.00%	1.00%	none	none

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses Nationwide Government Bond Fund	Class A Shares	Class B Shares	Class C Shares	Class R2 Shares	Institutional Service Class Shares
Management Fees	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	0.25%	1.00%	1.00%	0.50%	none
Other Expenses	0.38%	0.27%	0.27%	0.34%	0.37%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.13%	1.77%	1.77%	1.34%	0.87%

Example

This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example Nationwide Government Bond Fund (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A shares	535	769	1,021	1,741
Class B shares	680	857	1,159	1,836
Class C shares	280	557	959	2,084
Class R2 shares	136	425	734	1,613
Institutional Service Class shares	89	278	482	1,073

You would pay the following expenses on the same investment if you did not sell your shares:

Expense Example, No Redemption Nationwide Government Bond Fund (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class B shares	180	557	959	1,836
Class C shares	180	557	959	2,084

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 119.20% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities issued by the United States government and its agencies and instrumentalities. Many of these securities include mortgage-backed securities. The Fund’s subadviser seeks to achieve the Fund’s objective by investing in securities offering the highest level of expected income while simultaneously minimizing market price fluctuations. The Fund will generally maintain an average portfolio duration of three to six years. The Fund’s subadviser may sell securities in order to buy others that it believes will better serve the Fund’s objective. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities.

Principal Risks

The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.

As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of:

Interest rate risk – generally, when interest rates go up, the value of fixed-income securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly.

Credit risk – a bond issuer may be unable to pay the interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of a bond.

Liquidity risk – is the risk that a security cannot be sold, or cannot be sold quickly, at an acceptable price.

Prepayment and call risk – certain bonds will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this happens, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.

Extension risk – when interest rates rise, certain bond obligations, such as mortgage-backed securities, will be paid off by the issuer more slowly than anticipated. This can cause the market value of the security to fall because the market may view its interest rate as too low for a longer-term investment.

Mortgage-backed securities risk – mortgage-backed securities are generally subject to the same types of risk that apply to other fixed-income securities, such as interest rate risk and credit risk, and are subject to prepayment and call risk and extension risk. Through its investments in mortgage-backed securities, the Fund may have some exposure to subprime loans, as well as to the mortgage and credit markets generally. Subprime loans, which are loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories, have had in many cases higher default rates than loans that meet government underwriting requirements.

Portfolio turnover risk – a higher portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs and, as a result, may adversely impact the Fund’s performance and may:

• Increase share price volatility and
• Result in additional tax consequences for Fund shareholders.

In addition to these risks, the Fund’s portfolio managers may select securities that underperform the bond market, the Fund’s benchmark or other mutual funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.

Performance

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If the applicable sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. The table compares the Fund’s average annual total returns to the returns of a broad-based securities index. Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

Please call 800-848-0920 for the Fund’s current 30-day yield.

Annual Total Returns – Institutional Service Class Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Best Quarter:    5.66% – 4th qtr. of 2008
Worst Quarter:    -2.48% – 2nd qtr. of 2004

After-tax returns are shown in the table for Institutional Service Class shares (formerly known as Class D shares) only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax return depends on your personal tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors in tax-deferred arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

The inception dates for the Class B, Class C and Class R2 shares are September 4, 2003, September 4, 2003 and October 1, 2003, respectively. Pre-inception historical performance for Class B and Class C shares is based on the previous performance of Class X and Class Y shares, respectively (neither of which are still offered by this Fund). Pre-inception historical performance for Class R2 shares is based on the previous performance of Institutional Service Class shares (formerly known as Class D shares). Performance for these classes has been adjusted to reflect differences in sales charges between classes, but not differing expenses. Performance returns for the Institutional Service Class shares reflect a front-end sales charge of 4.50%. This front-end sales charge was eliminated effective August 1, 2012, at which time the former Class D shares were redesignated as Institutional Service Class shares.

Average Annual Total Returns
For the Periods Ended December 31, 2011:

Average Annual Total Returns Nationwide Government Bond Fund	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Class A shares	2.49%	5.08%	4.65%
Class B shares	1.35%	5.02%	4.50%
Class C shares	5.35%	5.34%	4.49%
Institutional Service Class shares	2.48%	5.29%	4.91%
Institutional Service Class shares After Taxes on Distributions	0.63%	3.47%	3.14%
Institutional Service Class shares After Taxes on Distributions and Sales of Shares	1.66%	3.48%	3.17%
Class R2 shares	6.77%	5.74%	4.99%
The BofA Merrill Lynch AAA US Treasury/Agency Master Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)	9.19%	6.62%	5.60%

XML

Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	NATIONWIDE MUTUAL FUNDS
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Feb. 29, 2012
Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Risk/Return [Heading]	rr_RiskReturnHeading	FUND SUMMARY: NATIONWIDE SHORT DURATION BOND FUND
Objective [Heading]	rr_ObjectiveHeading	Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block]	rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock	The Fund seeks to provide a high level of current income while preserving capital and minimizing fluctuations in share value.
Expense [Heading]	rr_ExpenseHeading	Fees and Expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock	This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay when buying and holding shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Nationwide Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in “Investing with Nationwide Funds” commencing on page 24 of this Prospectus and in “Additional Information on Purchases and Sales” commencing on page 78 of the Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]	rr_ShareholderFeesCaption	Shareholder Fees (paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text]	rr_OperatingExpensesCaption	Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination	February 28, 2013
Portfolio Turnover [Heading]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading	Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock	The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 89.14% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate	rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate	89.14%
Expense Breakpoint Discounts [Text]	rr_ExpenseBreakpointDiscounts	You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Nationwide Funds.
Expense Breakpoint, Minimum Investment Required [Amount]	rr_ExpenseBreakpointMinimumInvestmentRequiredAmount	100,000
Expense Example [Heading]	rr_ExpenseExampleHeading	Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock	This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example, No Redemption, By Year, Caption [Text]	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionByYearCaption	You would pay the following expenses on the same investment if you did not sell your shares:
Strategy [Heading]	rr_StrategyHeading	Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block]	rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock	Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in investment grade corporate bonds, U.S. government securities, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. These securities may pay interest on either a fixed-rate or variable-rate basis. In choosing securities, the Fund’s subadviser attempts to identify securities that, in its opinion, offer the best combination of yield, maturity and relative price performance, based on anticipated changes in interest rates and the price relationships among various types of fixed-income securities. The Fund is managed so that its duration will not exceed three years. The Fund’s subadviser may sell securities in order to buy others that it believes will better serve the Fund’s objective.
Risk [Heading]	rr_RiskHeading	Principal Risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block]	rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock	The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of: Interest rate risk – generally, when interest rates go up, the value of fixed-income securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly. Credit risk – a bond issuer may be unable to pay the interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of a bond. Liquidity risk – is the risk that a security cannot be sold, or cannot be sold quickly, at an acceptable price. Prepayment and call risk – certain bonds will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this happens, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields. Extension risk – when interest rates rise, certain bond obligations, such as mortgage-backed securities, will be paid in full by the issuer more slowly than anticipated. This can cause the market value of the security to fall because the market may view its interest rate as low for a longer-term investment. Mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities risks – these securities are generally subject to the same types of risk that apply to other fixed-income securities, such as interest rate risk, credit risk, and prepayment and call risk. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to extension risk. Through its investments in mortgage-backed securities, the Fund may have some exposure to subprime loans, as well as to the mortgage and credit markets generally. Subprime loans, which are loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories, have had in many cases higher default rates than loans that meet government underwriting requirements. The credit quality of most asset-backed securities depends primarily on the credit quality of the assets underlying such securities, how well the entity issuing the security is insulated from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated entities, and the amount and quality of any credit enhancement of the securities. In addition to these risks, the Fund’s portfolio managers may select securities that underperform the bond market, the Fund’s benchmark or other mutual funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.
Risk Lose Money [Text]	rr_RiskLoseMoney	If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]	rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading	Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block]	rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock	Prior to October 4, 2004, the Fund was invested in a combination of short- and intermediate-term fixed-income securities and wrap contracts issued by financial institutions intended to stabilize the Fund’s net asset value per share. Since that date, the Fund has ceased to use wrap contracts for that purpose. For the period between October 4, 2004, and December 6, 2004, the Fund concentrated its investments in short-term fixed-income instruments with less than 60 days to maturity. Beginning December 6, 2004, the Fund began to pursue its new investment objective and strategies as described herein and the Fund’s share price has fluctuated daily. The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If the applicable sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. The table compares the Fund’s average annual total returns to the returns of a broad-based securities index. Effective September 30, 2011, the Fund changed its primary benchmark index from the BofA Merrill Lynch 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index to the Barclay’s Capital U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index. The investment adviser believes that the Barclay’s Capital U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index more appropriately reflects the Fund’s investment strategies because it includes additional types of securities, such as U.S. government agency securities and corporate bonds, in which the Fund may invest. Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920. Please call 800-848-0920 for the Fund’s current 30-day yield.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]	rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns	The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year.
Performance Availability Phone [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone	800-848-0920
Performance Availability Website Address [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress	www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]	rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture	Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading]	rr_BarChartHeading	Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares (Years Ended December 31,)
Bar Chart Does Not Reflect Sales Loads [Text]	rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads	These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If the applicable sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown.
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]	rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock	Best Quarter:    2.06% – 3rd qtr. of 2007 Worst Quarter:    -0.61% – 4th qtr. of 2010
Performance Table Heading	rr_PerformanceTableHeading	Average Annual Total Returns For the Periods Ended December 31, 2011:
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate	rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate	After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred	rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred	After-tax returns are not relevant to investors in tax-deferred arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Performance Table One Class of after Tax Shown [Text]	rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown	After-tax returns are shown in the table for Class A shares only and will vary for other classes.
Performance Table Narrative	rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock	After-tax returns are shown in the table for Class A shares only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax return depends on your personal tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors in tax-deferred arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans. The inception dates for the Class A and Class C shares are July 16, 2003 and February 28, 2005, respectively. Pre-inception historical performance for Class A shares is based on the previous performance of the IRA Class shares (which are no longer offered by the Fund). Pre-inception historical performance for Class C shares is based on the previous performance of Class A shares. Performance for these classes has been adjusted to reflect differences in sales charges between classes, but not differing expenses.
Thirty Day Yield Phone	rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone	800-848-0920
Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund | Class A shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	2.25%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	none
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.25%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.35%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.95%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.12%)	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.83%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	308
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	509
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	727
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,354
2002	rr_AnnualReturn2002	4.16%
2003	rr_AnnualReturn2003	2.88%
2004	rr_AnnualReturn2004	1.90%
2005	rr_AnnualReturn2005	1.53%
2006	rr_AnnualReturn2006	3.96%
2007	rr_AnnualReturn2007	5.68%
2008	rr_AnnualReturn2008	1.82%
2009	rr_AnnualReturn2009	5.57%
2010	rr_AnnualReturn2010	1.85%
2011	rr_AnnualReturn2011	1.21%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Best Quarter:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate	Sep. 30, 2007
Highest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn	2.06%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Worst Quarter:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate	Dec. 31, 2010
Lowest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn	(0.61%)
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(1.03%)
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	2.74%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	2.81%
Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund | Class C shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	0.75%
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.75%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.32%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.42%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.12%)	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	1.30%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	207
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	438
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	765
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,692
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	132
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	438
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05	765
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10	1,692
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(0.11%)
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	2.69%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	2.71%
Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund | Service Class shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	none
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.25%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.44%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.04%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.12%)	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.92%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	94
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	319
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	562
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,260
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.02%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	3.07%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	2.96%
Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund | Institutional Class shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	none
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.32%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.67%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.12%)	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.55%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	56
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	202
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	361
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	823
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.50%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	3.49%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	3.35%
Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund | After Taxes on Distributions | Class A shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(1.42%)
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	1.79%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	1.77%
Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund | After Taxes on Distributions and Sales of Shares | Class A shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(0.67%)
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	1.78%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	1.78%
Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund | Barclay's Capital U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.59%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	3.99%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	3.63%
Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund | BofA Merrill Lynch 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.55%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	3.69%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	3.25%

[1] Nationwide Mutual Funds (the "Trust") and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the "Adviser") have entered into a written contract limiting operating expenses to 0.55% until at least February 28, 2013. Under the expense limitation agreement, the level to which operating expenses are limited applies to all share classes, excluding any taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, Rule 12b-1 fees, short-sale dividend expenses, administrative services fees, other expenses which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and expenses incurred by the Fund in connection with any merger or reorganization, and may exclude other non-routine expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business. The expense limitation agreement may be changed or eliminated at any time but only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust. The Trust is authorized to reimburse the Adviser for management fees previously waived and/or for expenses previously paid by the Adviser, provided, however, that any reimbursements must be paid at a date not more than three years after the fiscal year in which the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses and the reimbursements do not cause the Fund to exceed the expense limitation that was in place at the time the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses. More information about administrative services fees can be found in "Investing with Nationwide Funds" on page 28 of this Prospectus.

XML

Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	NATIONWIDE MUTUAL FUNDS
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Feb. 29, 2012
Document Creation Date	dei_DocumentCreationDate	Dec. 06, 2012

XML

Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	NATIONWIDE MUTUAL FUNDS
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Feb. 29, 2012
Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Risk/Return [Heading]	rr_RiskReturnHeading	FUND SUMMARY: NATIONWIDE ENHANCED INCOME FUND
Objective [Heading]	rr_ObjectiveHeading	Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block]	rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock	The Fund seeks a high level of current income while preserving capital and minimizing fluctuations in share value.
Expense [Heading]	rr_ExpenseHeading	Fees and Expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock	This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay when buying and holding shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Nationwide Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in “Investing with Nationwide Funds” commencing on page 24 of this Prospectus and in “Additional Information on Purchases and Sales” commencing on page 78 of the Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]	rr_ShareholderFeesCaption	Shareholder Fees (paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text]	rr_OperatingExpensesCaption	Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination	February 28, 2013
Portfolio Turnover [Heading]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading	Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock	The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 69.89% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate	rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate	69.89%
Expense Breakpoint Discounts [Text]	rr_ExpenseBreakpointDiscounts	You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Nationwide Funds.
Expense Breakpoint, Minimum Investment Required [Amount]	rr_ExpenseBreakpointMinimumInvestmentRequiredAmount	100,000
Expense Example [Heading]	rr_ExpenseExampleHeading	Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock	This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example Closing [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleClosingTextBlock	The Fund does not apply sales charges on reinvested dividends and other distributions.
Strategy [Heading]	rr_StrategyHeading	Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block]	rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock	Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests primarily in high-grade (rated AA or higher) corporate bonds, U.S. government securities, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. These securities may pay interest on either a fixed-rate or variable-rate basis. In choosing securities, the Fund’s subadviser attempts to identify securities that, in its opinion, offer the best combination of yield, maturity and relative price performance, based on anticipated changes in interest rates and the price relationships among various types of fixed-income securities. The Fund is managed so that its duration will be between six months and one year, and will not exceed two years. The Fund’s subadviser may sell securities in order to buy others that it believes will better serve the Fund’s objective.
Risk [Heading]	rr_RiskHeading	Principal Risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block]	rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock	The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of: Interest rate risk – generally, when interest rates go up, the value of fixed-income securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly. Credit risk – a bond issuer may be unable to pay the interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of a bond. Liquidity risk – is the risk that a security cannot be sold, or cannot be sold quickly, at an acceptable price. Prepayment and call risk – certain bonds will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this happens, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields. Extension risk – when interest rates rise, certain bond obligations, such as mortgage-backed securities, will be paid off by the issuer more slowly than anticipated. This can cause the market value of the security to fall because the market may view its interest rate as too low for a longer-term investment. Mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities risks – these securities are generally subject to the same types of risk that apply to other fixed-income securities, such as interest rate risk, credit risk, and prepayment and call risk. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to extension risk. Through its investments in mortgage-backed securities, the Fund may have some exposure to subprime loans, as well as to the mortgage and credit markets generally. Subprime loans, which are loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories, have had in many cases higher default rates than loans that meet government underwriting requirements. The credit quality of most asset-backed securities depends primarily on the credit quality of the assets underlying such securities, how well the entity issuing the security is insulated from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated entities, and the amount and quality of any credit enhancement of the securities. In addition to these risks, the Fund’s portfolio managers may select securities that underperform the bond market, the Fund’s benchmark or other mutual funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.
Risk Lose Money [Text]	rr_RiskLoseMoney	If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]	rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading	Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block]	rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock	The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If the applicable sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. The table compares the Fund’s average annual total returns to the returns of three broad-based securities indexes. Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920. Please call 800-848-0920 for the Fund’s current 30-day yield.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]	rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns	The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year.
Performance Availability Phone [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone	800-848-0920
Performance Availability Website Address [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress	www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]	rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture	Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading]	rr_BarChartHeading	Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares (Years Ended December 31,)
Bar Chart Does Not Reflect Sales Loads [Text]	rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads	These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If the applicable sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown.
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]	rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock	Best Quarter:    1.42% – 3rd qtr. of 2006 Worst Quarter:    -0.36% – 2nd qtr. of 2004
Performance Table Heading	rr_PerformanceTableHeading	Average Annual Total Returns For the Periods Ended December 31, 2011:
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate	rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate	After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred	rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred	After-tax returns are not relevant to investors in tax-deferred arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Performance Table One Class of after Tax Shown [Text]	rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown	After-tax returns are shown in the table for Class A shares only and will vary for other classes.
Performance Table Narrative	rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock	After-tax returns are shown in the table for Class A shares only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax return depends on your personal tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors in tax-deferred arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans. The inception date for the Class R2 shares is October 1, 2003. Pre-inception historical performance for Class R2 shares is based on the previous performance of Class A shares. Performance for Class R2 shares has been adjusted to reflect differences in sales charges between classes, but not differing expenses.
Thirty Day Yield Phone	rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone	800-848-0920
Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund | Class A shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	2.25%
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.25%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.13%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.73%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.02%)	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.71%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	296
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	451
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	620
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,109
2002	rr_AnnualReturn2002	2.24%
2003	rr_AnnualReturn2003	0.94%
2004	rr_AnnualReturn2004	0.49%
2005	rr_AnnualReturn2005	2.17%
2006	rr_AnnualReturn2006	4.31%
2007	rr_AnnualReturn2007	4.83%
2008	rr_AnnualReturn2008	2.62%
2009	rr_AnnualReturn2009	2.29%
2010	rr_AnnualReturn2010	0.77%
2011	rr_AnnualReturn2011	0.11%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Best Quarter:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate	Sep. 30, 2006
Highest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn	1.42%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Worst Quarter:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate	Jun. 30, 2004
Lowest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn	(0.36%)
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(2.16%)
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	1.65%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	1.84%
Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund | Class R2 shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.50%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.23%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.08%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.02%)	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	1.06%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	108
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	341
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	594
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,315
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(0.28%)
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	1.87%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	1.91%
Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund | Institutional Service Class shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.37%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.72%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.02%)	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.70%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	72
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	228
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	399
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	893
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.15%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	2.28%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	2.19%
Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund | Institutional Class shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.12%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.47%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.02%)	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.45%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	46
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	149
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	261
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	590
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.48%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	2.44%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	2.39%
Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund | After Taxes on Distributions | Class A shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(2.54%)
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	0.77%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	0.84%
Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund | After Taxes on Distributions and Sales of Shares | Class A shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(1.40%)
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	0.89%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	0.97%
Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund | BofAML 6-Month T-Bill Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.27%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	2.06%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	2.29%
Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund | BofAML 1-Year T-Bill Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.57%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	2.56%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	2.49%
Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund | Composite Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.42%	[2]
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	2.31%	[2]
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	2.39%	[2]

[1] Nationwide Mutual Funds (the "Trust") and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the "Adviser") have entered into a written contract limiting operating expenses to 0.45% until at least February 28, 2013. Under the expense limitation agreement, the level to which operating expenses are limited applies to all share classes, excluding any taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, Rule 12b-1 fees, short-sale dividend expenses, administrative services fees, other expenses which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and expenses incurred by the Fund in connection with any merger or reorganization, and may exclude other non-routine expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business. The expense limitation agreement may be changed or eliminated at any time but only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust. The Trust is authorized to reimburse the Adviser for management fees previously waived and/or for expenses previously paid by the Adviser, provided, however, that any reimbursements must be paid at a date not more than three years after the fiscal year in which the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses and the reimbursements do not cause the Fund to exceed the expense limitation that was in place at the time the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses. More information about administrative services fees can be found in "Investing with Nationwide Funds" on page 28 of this Prospectus.

[2] The Composite Index comprises 50% BofA Merrill Lynch (BofAML) 6-Month Treasury Bill (T-Bill) Index/50% BofAML 1-Year T-Bill Index.

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Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund

FUND SUMMARY: NATIONWIDE ENHANCED INCOME FUND

Objective

The Fund seeks a high level of current income while preserving capital and minimizing fluctuations in share value.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay when buying and holding shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Nationwide Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in “Investing with Nationwide Funds” commencing on page 24 of this Prospectus and in “Additional Information on Purchases and Sales” commencing on page 78 of the Statement of Additional Information.

Shareholder Fees (paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund	Class A Shares	Class R2 Shares	Institutional Service Class Shares	Institutional Class Shares
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	2.25%	none	none	none

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund		Class A Shares	Class R2 Shares	Institutional Service Class Shares	Institutional Class Shares
Management Fees		0.35%	0.35%	0.35%	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee		0.25%	0.50%	none	none
Other Expenses		0.13%	0.23%	0.37%	0.12%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses		0.73%	1.08%	0.72%	0.47%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	[1]	(0.02%)	(0.02%)	(0.02%)	(0.02%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement		0.71%	1.06%	0.70%	0.45%

Example

This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A shares	296	451	620	1,109
Class R2 shares	108	341	594	1,315
Institutional Service Class shares	72	228	399	893
Institutional Class shares	46	149	261	590

The Fund does not apply sales charges on reinvested dividends and other distributions.

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 69.89% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests primarily in high-grade (rated AA or higher) corporate bonds, U.S. government securities, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. These securities may pay interest on either a fixed-rate or variable-rate basis. In choosing securities, the Fund’s subadviser attempts to identify securities that, in its opinion, offer the best combination of yield, maturity and relative price performance, based on anticipated changes in interest rates and the price relationships among various types of fixed-income securities. The Fund is managed so that its duration will be between six months and one year, and will not exceed two years. The Fund’s subadviser may sell securities in order to buy others that it believes will better serve the Fund’s objective.

Principal Risks

The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.

As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of:

Interest rate risk – generally, when interest rates go up, the value of fixed-income securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly.

Credit risk – a bond issuer may be unable to pay the interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of a bond.

Liquidity risk – is the risk that a security cannot be sold, or cannot be sold quickly, at an acceptable price.

Prepayment and call risk – certain bonds will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this happens, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.

Extension risk – when interest rates rise, certain bond obligations, such as mortgage-backed securities, will be paid off by the issuer more slowly than anticipated. This can cause the market value of the security to fall because the market may view its interest rate as too low for a longer-term investment.

Mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities risks – these securities are generally subject to the same types of risk that apply to other fixed-income securities, such as interest rate risk, credit risk, and prepayment and call risk. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to extension risk. Through its investments in mortgage-backed securities, the Fund may have some exposure to subprime loans, as well as to the mortgage and credit markets generally. Subprime loans, which are loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories, have had in many cases higher default rates than loans that meet government underwriting requirements. The credit quality of most asset-backed securities depends primarily on the credit quality of the assets underlying such securities, how well the entity issuing the security is insulated from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated entities, and the amount and quality of any credit enhancement of the securities.

In addition to these risks, the Fund’s portfolio managers may select securities that underperform the bond market, the Fund’s benchmark or other mutual funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.

Performance

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If the applicable sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. The table compares the Fund’s average annual total returns to the returns of three broad-based securities indexes. Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

Please call 800-848-0920 for the Fund’s current 30-day yield.

Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Best Quarter:    1.42% – 3rd qtr. of 2006
Worst Quarter:    -0.36% – 2nd qtr. of 2004

After-tax returns are shown in the table for Class A shares only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax return depends on your personal tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors in tax-deferred arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

The inception date for the Class R2 shares is October 1, 2003. Pre-inception historical performance for Class R2 shares is based on the previous performance of Class A shares. Performance for Class R2 shares has been adjusted to reflect differences in sales charges between classes, but not differing expenses.

Average Annual Total Returns
For the Periods Ended December 31, 2011:

Average Annual Total Returns Nationwide Enhanced Income Fund		1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Class A shares		(2.16%)	1.65%	1.84%
Class A shares After Taxes on Distributions		(2.54%)	0.77%	0.84%
Class A shares After Taxes on Distributions and Sales of Shares		(1.40%)	0.89%	0.97%
Class R2 shares		(0.28%)	1.87%	1.91%
Institutional Service Class shares		0.15%	2.28%	2.19%
Institutional Class shares		0.48%	2.44%	2.39%
BofAML 6-Month T-Bill Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)		0.27%	2.06%	2.29%
BofAML 1-Year T-Bill Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)		0.57%	2.56%	2.49%
Composite Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)	[1]	0.42%	2.31%	2.39%

[1] Nationwide Mutual Funds (the "Trust") and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the "Adviser") have entered into a written contract limiting operating expenses to 0.45% until at least February 28, 2013. Under the expense limitation agreement, the level to which operating expenses are limited applies to all share classes, excluding any taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, Rule 12b-1 fees, short-sale dividend expenses, administrative services fees, other expenses which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and expenses incurred by the Fund in connection with any merger or reorganization, and may exclude other non-routine expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business. The expense limitation agreement may be changed or eliminated at any time but only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust. The Trust is authorized to reimburse the Adviser for management fees previously waived and/or for expenses previously paid by the Adviser, provided, however, that any reimbursements must be paid at a date not more than three years after the fiscal year in which the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses and the reimbursements do not cause the Fund to exceed the expense limitation that was in place at the time the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses. More information about administrative services fees can be found in "Investing with Nationwide Funds" on page 28 of this Prospectus.

[1] The Composite Index comprises 50% BofA Merrill Lynch (BofAML) 6-Month Treasury Bill (T-Bill) Index/50% BofAML 1-Year T-Bill Index.

XML

Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	NATIONWIDE MUTUAL FUNDS
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Feb. 29, 2012
Nationwide Money Market Fund
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Risk/Return [Heading]	rr_RiskReturnHeading	FUND SUMMARY: NATIONWIDE MONEY MARKET FUND
Objective [Heading]	rr_ObjectiveHeading	Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block]	rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock	The Fund seeks as high a level of current income as is consistent with preserving capital and maintaining liquidity. The Fund is a money market fund that seeks to maintain a stable net asset value of $1.00 per share.
Expense [Heading]	rr_ExpenseHeading	Fees and Expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock	This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay when buying and holding shares of the Fund. There are no sales charges to purchase or sell shares of the Fund.
Operating Expenses Caption [Text]	rr_OperatingExpensesCaption	Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination	February 28, 2013
Expense Example by Year [Heading]	rr_ExpenseExampleByYearHeading	Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock	This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading]	rr_StrategyHeading	Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block]	rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock	The Fund invests primarily in a portfolio of high-quality, fixed-income securities that mature in 397 days or less. These securities generally are issued by banks, corporations and the U.S. government, and may include asset-backed securities, shares of other money market mutual funds, and obligations of states, municipalities and foreign governments. The Fund may purchase foreign money market securities, although all obligations held by the Fund must be denominated in U.S. dollars. The Fund may invest in floating-and variable-rate obligations and may enter into repurchase agreements. The Fund maintains a dollar-weighted average maturity of no more than 60 days and a weighted average life of no more than 120 days. Because the Fund invests in short-term securities, the Fund’s subadviser generally sells securities only to meet liquidity needs, to maintain target allocations or to take advantage of more favorable opportunities.
Risk [Heading]	rr_RiskHeading	Principal Risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block]	rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock	While the Fund seeks to preserve capital, there can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its objective or be able to maintain a fixed net asset value of $1.00 per share; therefore, you could lose money. In order to maintain a constant net asset value of $1.00 per share, the Fund may reduce the number of shares held by its shareholders. There is no guarantee that the Fund will provide a certain level of income or that any such income will stay ahead of inflation. Further, the Fund’s yield will vary; it is not fixed for a specific period like the yield on a bank certificate of deposit. A low interest rate environment may prevent the Fund from providing a positive yield or from paying Fund expenses out of current income without impairing the Fund’s ability to maintain a stable net asset value. Investments in the Fund are not bank deposits and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. Other risks of investing in the Fund include: Interest rate risk – generally, when interest rates go up, the value of fixed-income securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly. Credit risk – an issuer may be unable to pay the interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of a bond. Liquidity risk – is the risk that a security cannot be sold, or cannot be sold quickly, at an acceptable price. Asset-backed securities risk – asset-backed securities are generally subject to the same types of risk that apply to other fixed-income securities, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. The credit quality of most asset-backed securities depends primarily on the credit quality of the assets underlying such securities, how well the entity issuing the security is insulated from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated entities, and the amount and quality of any credit enhancement of the securities. Repurchase agreements risk – exposes the Fund to the risk that the party that sells the securities to the Fund may default on its obligation to repurchase them. Foreign securities risk – foreign securities may be more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities. Investments in other money market mutual funds – to the extent that the Fund invests in shares of other money market mutual funds, its performance is directly tied to the performance of such other funds. If one of these other money market mutual funds fails to meet its objective, the Fund’s performance could be negatively affected. In addition, Fund shareholders will pay a proportionate share of the fees and expenses of such other money market mutual fund (including applicable management, administration and custodian fees) as well as the Fund’s direct expenses. Any such other money market mutual fund will not charge any front-end sales loads, contingent deferred sales charges or Rule 12b-1 fees. In addition to these risks, the Fund’s portfolio managers may select securities that underperform the money markets, the Fund’s benchmark or other mutual funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.
Risk Lose Money [Text]	rr_RiskLoseMoney	If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.
Risk Money Market Fund [Text]	rr_RiskMoneyMarketFund	While the Fund seeks to preserve capital, there can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its objective or be able to maintain a fixed net asset value of $1.00 per share; therefore, you could lose money. In order to maintain a constant net asset value of $1.00 per share, the Fund may reduce the number of shares held by its shareholders.
Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text]	rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution	Investments in the Fund are not bank deposits and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]	rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading	Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block]	rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock	The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. The table compares the Fund’s average annual total returns to the returns of a broad-based securities index. Remember, however, that past performance is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920. Please call 800-848-0920 for the Fund’s current 7-day yield.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]	rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns	The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year.
Performance Availability Phone [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone	800-848-0920
Performance Availability Website Address [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress	www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]	rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture	Remember, however, that past performance is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading]	rr_BarChartHeading	Annual Total Returns – Prime Shares (Years Ended December 31,)
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]	rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock	Best Quarter:    1.24% – 3rd qtr. of 2007 Worst Quarter:    0.00% – 2nd qtr. of 2009
Performance Table Heading	rr_PerformanceTableHeading	Average Annual Total Returns For the Periods Ended December 31, 2011:
Money Market Seven Day Yield Phone	rr_MoneyMarketSevenDayYieldPhone	800-848-0920
Nationwide Money Market Fund | Prime shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.38%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.20%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses	rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets	0.02%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.60%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	none	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.60%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	61
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	192
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	335
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	750
2002	rr_AnnualReturn2002	1.13%
2003	rr_AnnualReturn2003	0.62%
2004	rr_AnnualReturn2004	0.83%
2005	rr_AnnualReturn2005	2.72%
2006	rr_AnnualReturn2006	4.56%
2007	rr_AnnualReturn2007	4.86%
2008	rr_AnnualReturn2008	2.09%
2009	rr_AnnualReturn2009	0.02%
2010	rr_AnnualReturn2010	0.00%
2011	rr_AnnualReturn2011	0.00%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Best Quarter:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate	Sep. 30, 2007
Highest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn	1.24%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Worst Quarter:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate	Jun. 30, 2009
Lowest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn	0.00%
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	none
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	1.38%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	1.67%
Nationwide Money Market Fund | Service Class shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.38%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.15%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.33%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses	rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets	0.02%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.88%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.11%)	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.77%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	79
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	270
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	477
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,074
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	none
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	1.33%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	1.57%
Nationwide Money Market Fund | Institutional Class shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.38%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.08%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses	rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets	0.02%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.48%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	none	[1]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.48%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	49
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	154
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	269
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	604
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	none
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	1.41%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	1.72%
Nationwide Money Market Fund | iMoneyNet Prime Retail Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	none
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	1.36%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	1.57%

[1] Nationwide Mutual Funds (the "Trust") and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the "Adviser") have entered into a written contract limiting operating expenses to 0.59% until at least February 28, 2013. Under the expense limitation agreement, the level to which operating expenses are limited applies to all share classes, excluding any taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, Rule 12b-1 fees, short-sale dividend expenses, administrative services fees, other expenses which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and expenses incurred by the Fund in connection with any merger or reorganization, and may exclude other non-routine expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business. The expense limitation agreement may be changed or eliminated at any time but only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust. Pursuant to the contract, operating expenses for Service Class shares are further limited to 0.75%, including Rule 12b-1 fees and administrative services fees. The Trust is authorized to reimburse the Adviser for management fees previously waived or reduced and/or for expenses previously paid by the Adviser, provided, however, that any reimbursements must be paid at a date not more than three years after the fiscal year in which the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses and the reimbursements do not cause the Fund to exceed the expense limitation that was in place at the time the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses. More information about administrative services fees can be found in "Investing with Nationwide Funds" on page 28 of this Prospectus.

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Nationwide Money Market Fund

FUND SUMMARY: NATIONWIDE MONEY MARKET FUND

Objective

The Fund seeks as high a level of current income as is consistent with preserving capital and maintaining liquidity. The Fund is a money market fund that seeks to maintain a stable net asset value of $1.00 per share.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay when buying and holding shares of the Fund. There are no sales charges to purchase or sell shares of the Fund.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses Nationwide Money Market Fund		Prime Shares	Service Class Shares	Institutional Class Shares
Management Fees		0.38%	0.38%	0.38%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee		none	0.15%	none
Other Expenses		0.20%	0.33%	0.08%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses		0.02%	0.02%	0.02%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses		0.60%	0.88%	0.48%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	[1]	none	(0.11%)	none
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement		0.60%	0.77%	0.48%

Example

This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example Nationwide Money Market Fund (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Prime shares	61	192	335	750
Service Class shares	79	270	477	1,074
Institutional Class shares	49	154	269	604

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund invests primarily in a portfolio of high-quality, fixed-income securities that mature in 397 days or less. These securities generally are issued by banks, corporations and the U.S. government, and may include asset-backed securities, shares of other money market mutual funds, and obligations of states, municipalities and foreign governments. The Fund may purchase foreign money market securities, although all obligations held by the Fund must be denominated in U.S. dollars. The Fund may invest in floating-and variable-rate obligations and may enter into repurchase agreements. The Fund maintains a dollar-weighted average maturity of no more than 60 days and a weighted average life of no more than 120 days.

Because the Fund invests in short-term securities, the Fund’s subadviser generally sells securities only to meet liquidity needs, to maintain target allocations or to take advantage of more favorable opportunities.

Principal Risks

While the Fund seeks to preserve capital, there can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its objective or be able to maintain a fixed net asset value of $1.00 per share; therefore, you could lose money. In order to maintain a constant net asset value of $1.00 per share, the Fund may reduce the number of shares held by its shareholders.

There is no guarantee that the Fund will provide a certain level of income or that any such income will stay ahead of inflation. Further, the Fund’s yield will vary; it is not fixed for a specific period like the yield on a bank certificate of deposit. A low interest rate environment may prevent the Fund from providing a positive yield or from paying Fund expenses out of current income without impairing the Fund’s ability to maintain a stable net asset value.

Investments in the Fund are not bank deposits and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.

Other risks of investing in the Fund include:

Interest rate risk – generally, when interest rates go up, the value of fixed-income securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly.

Credit risk – an issuer may be unable to pay the interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of a bond.

Liquidity risk – is the risk that a security cannot be sold, or cannot be sold quickly, at an acceptable price.

Asset-backed securities risk – asset-backed securities are generally subject to the same types of risk that apply to other fixed-income securities, such as interest rate risk and credit risk. The credit quality of most asset-backed securities depends primarily on the credit quality of the assets underlying such securities, how well the entity issuing the security is insulated from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated entities, and the amount and quality of any credit enhancement of the securities.

Repurchase agreements risk – exposes the Fund to the risk that the party that sells the securities to the Fund may default on its obligation to repurchase them.

Foreign securities risk – foreign securities may be more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities.

Investments in other money market mutual funds – to the extent that the Fund invests in shares of other money market mutual funds, its performance is directly tied to the performance of such other funds. If one of these other money market mutual funds fails to meet its objective, the Fund’s performance could be negatively affected. In addition, Fund shareholders will pay a proportionate share of the fees and expenses of such other money market mutual fund (including applicable management, administration and custodian fees) as well as the Fund’s direct expenses. Any such other money market mutual fund will not charge any front-end sales loads, contingent deferred sales charges or Rule 12b-1 fees.

In addition to these risks, the Fund’s portfolio managers may select securities that underperform the money markets, the Fund’s benchmark or other mutual funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.

Performance

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. The table compares the Fund’s average annual total returns to the returns of a broad-based securities index. Remember, however, that past performance is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

Please call 800-848-0920 for the Fund’s current 7-day yield.

Annual Total Returns – Prime Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Best Quarter:    1.24% – 3rd qtr. of 2007
Worst Quarter:    0.00% – 2nd qtr. of 2009

Average Annual Total Returns
For the Periods Ended December 31, 2011:

Average Annual Total Returns Nationwide Money Market Fund	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Prime shares	none	1.38%	1.67%
Service Class shares	none	1.33%	1.57%
Institutional Class shares	none	1.41%	1.72%
iMoneyNet Prime Retail Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)	none	1.36%	1.57%

[1] Nationwide Mutual Funds (the "Trust") and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the "Adviser") have entered into a written contract limiting operating expenses to 0.59% until at least February 28, 2013. Under the expense limitation agreement, the level to which operating expenses are limited applies to all share classes, excluding any taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, Rule 12b-1 fees, short-sale dividend expenses, administrative services fees, other expenses which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and expenses incurred by the Fund in connection with any merger or reorganization, and may exclude other non-routine expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business. The expense limitation agreement may be changed or eliminated at any time but only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust. Pursuant to the contract, operating expenses for Service Class shares are further limited to 0.75%, including Rule 12b-1 fees and administrative services fees. The Trust is authorized to reimburse the Adviser for management fees previously waived or reduced and/or for expenses previously paid by the Adviser, provided, however, that any reimbursements must be paid at a date not more than three years after the fiscal year in which the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses and the reimbursements do not cause the Fund to exceed the expense limitation that was in place at the time the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses. More information about administrative services fees can be found in "Investing with Nationwide Funds" on page 28 of this Prospectus.

XML

Document and Entity Information	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 29, 2012
Risk/Return:
Document Type	Other
Document Period End Date	Oct. 31, 2011
Registrant Name	NATIONWIDE MUTUAL FUNDS
Central Index Key	0001048702
Amendment Flag	false
Document Creation Date	Dec. 06, 2012
Document Effective Date	Dec. 06, 2012
Prospectus Date	Feb. 29, 2012

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Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund

FUND SUMMARY: NATIONWIDE SHORT DURATION BOND FUND

Objective

The Fund seeks to provide a high level of current income while preserving capital and minimizing fluctuations in share value.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay when buying and holding shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Nationwide Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in “Investing with Nationwide Funds” commencing on page 24 of this Prospectus and in “Additional Information on Purchases and Sales” commencing on page 78 of the Statement of Additional Information.

Shareholder Fees (paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund	Class A Shares	Class C Shares	Service Class Shares	Institutional Class Shares
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	2.25%	none	none	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	none	0.75%	none	none

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund		Class A Shares	Class C Shares	Service Class Shares	Institutional Class Shares
Management Fees		0.35%	0.35%	0.35%	0.35%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee		0.25%	0.75%	0.25%	none
Other Expenses		0.35%	0.32%	0.44%	0.32%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses		0.95%	1.42%	1.04%	0.67%
Amount of Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	[1]	(0.12%)	(0.12%)	(0.12%)	(0.12%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement		0.83%	1.30%	0.92%	0.55%

Example

This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A shares	308	509	727	1,354
Class C shares	207	438	765	1,692
Service Class shares	94	319	562	1,260
Institutional Class shares	56	202	361	823

You would pay the following expenses on the same investment if you did not sell your shares:

Expense Example, No Redemption (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund Class C shares	132	438	765	1,692

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 89.14% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in investment grade corporate bonds, U.S. government securities, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. These securities may pay interest on either a fixed-rate or variable-rate basis. In choosing securities, the Fund’s subadviser attempts to identify securities that, in its opinion, offer the best combination of yield, maturity and relative price performance, based on anticipated changes in interest rates and the price relationships among various types of fixed-income securities. The Fund is managed so that its duration will not exceed three years. The Fund’s subadviser may sell securities in order to buy others that it believes will better serve the Fund’s objective.

Principal Risks

The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.

As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of:

Interest rate risk – generally, when interest rates go up, the value of fixed-income securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly.

Credit risk – a bond issuer may be unable to pay the interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of a bond.

Liquidity risk – is the risk that a security cannot be sold, or cannot be sold quickly, at an acceptable price.

Prepayment and call risk – certain bonds will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this happens, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.

Extension risk – when interest rates rise, certain bond obligations, such as mortgage-backed securities, will be paid in full by the issuer more slowly than anticipated. This can cause the market value of the security to fall because the market may view its interest rate as low for a longer-term investment.

Mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities risks – these securities are generally subject to the same types of risk that apply to other fixed-income securities, such as interest rate risk, credit risk, and prepayment and call risk. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to extension risk. Through its investments in mortgage-backed securities, the Fund may have some exposure to subprime loans, as well as to the mortgage and credit markets generally. Subprime loans, which are loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories, have had in many cases higher default rates than loans that meet government underwriting requirements. The credit quality of most asset-backed securities depends primarily on the credit quality of the assets underlying such securities, how well the entity issuing the security is insulated from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated entities, and the amount and quality of any credit enhancement of the securities.

In addition to these risks, the Fund’s portfolio managers may select securities that underperform the bond market, the Fund’s benchmark or other mutual funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.

Performance

Prior to October 4, 2004, the Fund was invested in a combination of short- and intermediate-term fixed-income securities and wrap contracts issued by financial institutions intended to stabilize the Fund’s net asset value per share. Since that date, the Fund has ceased to use wrap contracts for that purpose. For the period between October 4, 2004, and December 6, 2004, the Fund concentrated its investments in short-term fixed-income instruments with less than 60 days to maturity. Beginning December 6, 2004, the Fund began to pursue its new investment objective and strategies as described herein and the Fund’s share price has fluctuated daily.

The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If the applicable sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. The table compares the Fund’s average annual total returns to the returns of a broad-based securities index. Effective September 30, 2011, the Fund changed its primary benchmark index from the BofA Merrill Lynch 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index to the Barclay’s Capital U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index. The investment adviser believes that the Barclay’s Capital U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index more appropriately reflects the Fund’s investment strategies because it includes additional types of securities, such as U.S. government agency securities and corporate bonds, in which the Fund may invest. Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920.

Please call 800-848-0920 for the Fund’s current 30-day yield.

Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Best Quarter:    2.06% – 3rd qtr. of 2007
Worst Quarter:    -0.61% – 4th qtr. of 2010

After-tax returns are shown in the table for Class A shares only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax return depends on your personal tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors in tax-deferred arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.

The inception dates for the Class A and Class C shares are July 16, 2003 and February 28, 2005, respectively. Pre-inception historical performance for Class A shares is based on the previous performance of the IRA Class shares (which are no longer offered by the Fund). Pre-inception historical performance for Class C shares is based on the previous performance of Class A shares. Performance for these classes has been adjusted to reflect differences in sales charges between classes, but not differing expenses.

Average Annual Total Returns
For the Periods Ended December 31, 2011:

Average Annual Total Returns Nationwide Short Duration Bond Fund	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Class A shares	(1.03%)	2.74%	2.81%
Class A shares After Taxes on Distributions	(1.42%)	1.79%	1.77%
Class A shares After Taxes on Distributions and Sales of Shares	(0.67%)	1.78%	1.78%
Class C shares	(0.11%)	2.69%	2.71%
Service Class shares	1.02%	3.07%	2.96%
Institutional Class shares	1.50%	3.49%	3.35%
Barclay's Capital U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)	1.59%	3.99%	3.63%
BofA Merrill Lynch 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)	1.55%	3.69%	3.25%

[1] Nationwide Mutual Funds (the "Trust") and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the "Adviser") have entered into a written contract limiting operating expenses to 0.55% until at least February 28, 2013. Under the expense limitation agreement, the level to which operating expenses are limited applies to all share classes, excluding any taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, Rule 12b-1 fees, short-sale dividend expenses, administrative services fees, other expenses which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and expenses incurred by the Fund in connection with any merger or reorganization, and may exclude other non-routine expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business. The expense limitation agreement may be changed or eliminated at any time but only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust. The Trust is authorized to reimburse the Adviser for management fees previously waived and/or for expenses previously paid by the Adviser, provided, however, that any reimbursements must be paid at a date not more than three years after the fiscal year in which the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses and the reimbursements do not cause the Fund to exceed the expense limitation that was in place at the time the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses. More information about administrative services fees can be found in "Investing with Nationwide Funds" on page 28 of this Prospectus.

XML

Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	NATIONWIDE MUTUAL FUNDS
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Feb. 29, 2012
Nationwide Government Bond Fund
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Risk/Return [Heading]	rr_RiskReturnHeading	FUND SUMMARY: NATIONWIDE GOVERNMENT BOND FUND
Objective [Heading]	rr_ObjectiveHeading	Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block]	rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock	The Fund seeks as high a level of current income as is consistent with preserving capital.
Expense [Heading]	rr_ExpenseHeading	Fees and Expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock	This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay when buying and holding shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Nationwide Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in “Investing with Nationwide Funds” commencing on page 24 of this Prospectus and in “Additional Information on Purchases and Sales” commencing on page 78 of the Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]	rr_ShareholderFeesCaption	Shareholder Fees (paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text]	rr_OperatingExpensesCaption	Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Portfolio Turnover [Heading]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading	Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock	The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 119.20% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate	rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate	119.20%
Expense Breakpoint Discounts [Text]	rr_ExpenseBreakpointDiscounts	You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Nationwide Funds.
Expense Breakpoint, Minimum Investment Required [Amount]	rr_ExpenseBreakpointMinimumInvestmentRequiredAmount	100,000
Expense Example [Heading]	rr_ExpenseExampleHeading	Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock	This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example, No Redemption, By Year, Caption [Text]	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionByYearCaption	You would pay the following expenses on the same investment if you did not sell your shares:
Strategy [Heading]	rr_StrategyHeading	Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block]	rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock	Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities issued by the United States government and its agencies and instrumentalities. Many of these securities include mortgage-backed securities. The Fund’s subadviser seeks to achieve the Fund’s objective by investing in securities offering the highest level of expected income while simultaneously minimizing market price fluctuations. The Fund will generally maintain an average portfolio duration of three to six years. The Fund’s subadviser may sell securities in order to buy others that it believes will better serve the Fund’s objective. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities.
Risk [Heading]	rr_RiskHeading	Principal Risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block]	rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock	The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of: Interest rate risk – generally, when interest rates go up, the value of fixed-income securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly. Credit risk – a bond issuer may be unable to pay the interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund may lose money. Changes in a bond issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of a bond. Liquidity risk – is the risk that a security cannot be sold, or cannot be sold quickly, at an acceptable price. Prepayment and call risk – certain bonds will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this happens, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields. Extension risk – when interest rates rise, certain bond obligations, such as mortgage-backed securities, will be paid off by the issuer more slowly than anticipated. This can cause the market value of the security to fall because the market may view its interest rate as too low for a longer-term investment. Mortgage-backed securities risk – mortgage-backed securities are generally subject to the same types of risk that apply to other fixed-income securities, such as interest rate risk and credit risk, and are subject to prepayment and call risk and extension risk. Through its investments in mortgage-backed securities, the Fund may have some exposure to subprime loans, as well as to the mortgage and credit markets generally. Subprime loans, which are loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories, have had in many cases higher default rates than loans that meet government underwriting requirements. Portfolio turnover risk – a higher portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs and, as a result, may adversely impact the Fund’s performance and may: Increase share price volatility and Result in additional tax consequences for Fund shareholders. In addition to these risks, the Fund’s portfolio managers may select securities that underperform the bond market, the Fund’s benchmark or other mutual funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.
Risk Lose Money [Text]	rr_RiskLoseMoney	If the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, you may lose money.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]	rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading	Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block]	rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock	The following bar chart and table can help you evaluate the Fund’s potential risks. The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year. These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If the applicable sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. The table compares the Fund’s average annual total returns to the returns of a broad-based securities index. Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds or by calling 800-848-0920. Please call 800-848-0920 for the Fund’s current 30-day yield.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]	rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns	The bar chart shows how the Fund’s annual total returns have varied from year to year.
Performance Availability Phone [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone	800-848-0920
Performance Availability Website Address [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress	www.nationwide.com/mutualfunds
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]	rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture	Remember, however, that past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading]	rr_BarChartHeading	Annual Total Returns – Institutional Service Class Shares (Years Ended December 31,)
Bar Chart Does Not Reflect Sales Loads [Text]	rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads	These returns do not reflect the impact of sales charges. If the applicable sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown.
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]	rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock	Best Quarter:    5.66% – 4th qtr. of 2008 Worst Quarter:    -2.48% – 2nd qtr. of 2004
Performance Table Heading	rr_PerformanceTableHeading	Average Annual Total Returns For the Periods Ended December 31, 2011:
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate	rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate	After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred	rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred	After-tax returns are not relevant to investors in tax-deferred arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Performance Table One Class of after Tax Shown [Text]	rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown	After-tax returns are shown in the table for Institutional Service Class shares (formerly known as Class D shares) only and will vary for other classes.
Performance Table Narrative	rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock	After-tax returns are shown in the table for Institutional Service Class shares (formerly known as Class D shares) only and will vary for other classes. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax return depends on your personal tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors in tax-deferred arrangements, such as individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans or certain other employer-sponsored retirement plans. The inception dates for the Class B, Class C and Class R2 shares are September 4, 2003, September 4, 2003 and October 1, 2003, respectively. Pre-inception historical performance for Class B and Class C shares is based on the previous performance of Class X and Class Y shares, respectively (neither of which are still offered by this Fund). Pre-inception historical performance for Class R2 shares is based on the previous performance of Institutional Service Class shares (formerly known as Class D shares). Performance for these classes has been adjusted to reflect differences in sales charges between classes, but not differing expenses. Performance returns for the Institutional Service Class shares reflect a front-end sales charge of 4.50%. This front-end sales charge was eliminated effective August 1, 2012, at which time the former Class D shares were redesignated as Institutional Service Class shares.
Thirty Day Yield Phone	rr_ThirtyDayYieldPhone	800-848-0920
Nationwide Government Bond Fund | Class A shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	4.25%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	none
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.50%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.25%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.38%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.13%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	535
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	769
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	1,021
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,741
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	2.49%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	5.08%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	4.65%
Nationwide Government Bond Fund | Class B shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	5.00%
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.50%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	1.00%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.27%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.77%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	680
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	857
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	1,159
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,836
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	180
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	557
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05	959
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10	1,836
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.35%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	5.02%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	4.50%
Nationwide Government Bond Fund | Class C shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	1.00%
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.50%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	1.00%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.27%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.77%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	280
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	557
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	959
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	2,084
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	180
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	557
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05	959
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10	2,084
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	5.35%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	5.34%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	4.49%
Nationwide Government Bond Fund | Class R2 shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	none
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.50%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.50%
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.34%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.34%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	136
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	425
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	734
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,613
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	6.77%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	5.74%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	4.99%
Nationwide Government Bond Fund | Institutional Service Class shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) imposed upon purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering or sale price, whichever is less)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	none
Management Fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.50%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fee	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other Expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.37%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.87%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	89
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	278
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	482
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,073
2002	rr_AnnualReturn2002	10.96%
2003	rr_AnnualReturn2003	1.89%
2004	rr_AnnualReturn2004	3.42%
2005	rr_AnnualReturn2005	2.77%
2006	rr_AnnualReturn2006	3.85%
2007	rr_AnnualReturn2007	7.72%
2008	rr_AnnualReturn2008	7.98%
2009	rr_AnnualReturn2009	3.46%
2010	rr_AnnualReturn2010	4.94%
2011	rr_AnnualReturn2011	7.31%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Best Quarter:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate	Dec. 31, 2008
Highest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn	5.66%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Worst Quarter:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate	Jun. 30, 2004
Lowest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn	(2.48%)
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	2.48%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	5.29%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	4.91%
Nationwide Government Bond Fund | After Taxes on Distributions | Institutional Service Class shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.63%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	3.47%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	3.14%
Nationwide Government Bond Fund | After Taxes on Distributions and Sales of Shares | Institutional Service Class shares
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.66%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	3.48%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	3.17%
Nationwide Government Bond Fund | The BofA Merrill Lynch AAA US Treasury/Agency Master Index (The Index does not pay sales charges, fees, expenses or taxes.)
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	9.19%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	6.62%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	5.60%