Objective To study the role of clinical nursing pathway (CNP)in health education for patients undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL).Methods Ninety patients with PCNL were randomized into the observation group and the control group in equal number: the former received CNP health education and the latter routine health education while hospitalization. The two groups were compared in terms of scores on health education,satisfaction with nursing,incidence of postoperative extubation and hospital stay.Result The scores on health education,satisfaction with nursing and incidence of postoperative extubation in the observation group were all significantly higher than those of the control group (allP<0.05) and the hospital stay in the former was significantly shorter than that of the latter (P<0.05).Conclusions PCNL in use of CNP health education can promote patients’ health education quality,reduce their incidence of extubation,shorten their hospital stays and improve their satisfaction of nursing. It is worthy of clinical promotion and application.