Objective:To explore and evaluate the application of clinical nursing pathway for the patients after cardiopulmonary bypass.Methods:Between January of 2008 and January of 2009

265 patients who underwent cardiopulmonary bypass were double-blindly randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group.Attentions were given to their average hospital stay

average medical cost

degree of satisfaction with care and extent of understanding of health knowledge.Results:Patients in the experimental group showed a reduced average hospital stay and average medical cost than their counterparts in the control group(P<0.05);however

they presented a better degree of satisfaction with care and extent of understanding of health knowledge than those in the control group(P<0.01).Conclusion:The application of clinical nursing pathway can reduce the average hospital stay and average medical cost

improve the quality of nursing

increase the degree of patient’s satisfaction with care and raise their awareness of disease.