Objective To explore the application of reading education in cultivating nursing students' humanities in vocational college.Methods Nursing students were selected at random and divided into two groups,35 students in the experimental group and 50 in the control group.The students in the experimental group were given the 2-year related instruction through reading activities in the light of the principle enhance general humanities foundation in the first grade and strengthen humanistic features in the second grade.Nursing skill assessment and questionnaire oriented to humanities were used to test the educational effect.Results The result of nursing skill assessment in the experimental group was significantly better than that of the control group.The score of humanities' moral,law,culture and aesthetic dimension and the total score of the experimental group were significantly better than those of the control group.Conclusions Well targeted reading is effective in the cultivation of nursing students' humanities.Meanwhile reading education can serve as an important and beneficial way to improve the cultivation mode of vocational college's nursing humanities.