Objective To analyze the influence of nursing intervention on lung function in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) and the quality of life,in order to improve the prognosis of patients with accumulation of experience. Methods Totaled of 146 cases of elderly patients with COPD hospitalized from October 2009 to December 2013 were selected as the research objects,they were divided into control group(n= 73)and observation group(n= 73)after admission according to the randomly sampling method in the lottery . Control group was given routine nursing, observation group was given nursing intervention on the basis of control group. The lung function measurement instrument quality of life scale was used, the lung function indexes before and after the nursing(FVC、FEV1、FEV1/FV、MMEF、PEF)and quality of life(daily life,social activities, depression,anxiety and so on)of two groups were compared. Results The lung function indexes and the QOL scores of patients of two groups before nursing were compared,the differences both had no statistical significances (P> 0.05). The lung function indexes of observation group were obviously higher than those of control group(t1= 4.75、P1= 0.006, t2= 5.43、P2= 0.003, t3= 13.5、P3= 0.000, t4= 1.95、P4= 0.013, t5= 2.27、P5= 0.011); Except social activity(t2= 0.726、P2= 0.197), each QOL score of observation group was compared with the control group which was significantly decreased(t1= 5.71、P1= 0.003, t3= 6.38、P3= 0.002, t4= 7.49、P4= 0.001, t5= 4.26、P5= 0.007). Conclusions Nursing intervention can postpone the falling trend of lung function in patients with COPD,ease their anxiety, depression and other negative emotions,improve the quality of life and be good for improving the intervention of patients. Key words: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; The olderly; Nursing intervention; Lung function; Quality of life