Objective　To discuss the efficacy of applying management-by-objectives（MBO） in the hospital-level nursing quality control group. Methods　Goals of objective management and as-sessment details were set by leaders of quality control groups along with the nursing department at the beginning of the year. The nine subordinate groups performed upon the required criteria， completed the quality inspection on time and recorded group activities. At the end of the year， group leaders reported to the hospital-level nursing quality committee and head nurses about their performances， where several major honors were rewarded to the best performing groups. SPSS 17.0 software was used for data statistics. The measurement data were analyzed by paired t test data while enumeration data by chi-square test. Results　Scores of assessment items were significantly raised after implementing MBO（P<0.05）. Scores of key items， such as high quality care， emergency management， nursing skill， were increased to （98.1 ± 2.2）， （97.7±2.7）， （99.6±0.6）， （96.1±2.1） from （93.6±2.5）（P=0.009）， （93.0±2.6）（P=0.009）， （96.2±1.3）（P=0.000） and （89.3±4.5）（P=0.000）， respectively. Care complaints were sharply dropped for all inpatient wards while numbers of management innovation and process reengineering were greatly increased（ χ2=8.884，P=0.031）. Conclusion　Introduction of MBO in the hospital-level nursing quality control group does facilitate the continuous improvement of care quality.