Abstract： AIM To evaluate the effect of clinical nursing pathway for acute pancreatitis (AP).METNODS One hundred and sixty patients with AP treated at our hospital from January 2015 to December 2016 were enrolled in this study.The patients were randomly divided into either an observation group or a control group,with 80 cases in each group.Clinical nursing pathway was used in the observation group,while conventional nursing care was used in the control group.Clinical symptoms,length of hospital stay,and adverse effects were compared between the two groups.RESULTS The duration of stomach ache and abdominal distention was significantly shorter in the observation group than in the control group (6.02 d ± 4.23 d vs 8.56 d ± 5.33 d,t =3.308,P =0.001;6.78 d ± 4.21 d vs 9.67 d ± 5.92 d,t =3.558,P ＜ 0.001).The length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the observation group than in the control group (27.50 d ± 9.32 d vs 34.45 d ± 12.72 d,t =3.942,P ＜ 0.001).The rate of adverse effects such as esophageal mucosal injury,lower limb vein thrombosis,and lung infection was significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group.CONCLUSION Clinical nursing pathway can promote the rehabilitation of AP and reduce adverse effect and negative emotion.