Objective To investigate the nursing effect of clinical treatment combined with early rehabilitation nursing intervention in patients with heart failure. Methods A total of 60 cases of patients with heart failure from January 2018 to May 2018 in Beijing Anzhen Hosipital, Capital Medical University were admitted. They were divided into control group (30 cases) and observation group (30 cases) by random digits table method. All patients in 2 groups were treated with clinical treatment, while those in control group were treated with conventional nursing and observation group combined with early rehabilitation nursing intervention. Echocardiogram, 6 min walking test (6MWT), body composition analyzer (measuring extracellular moisture ratio) and body mass index (BMI) was used to evaluate the changes of all indexes before and after nursing care in 2 groups. Results Using the receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC) of extracellular moisture ratio to predict heart failure, the area under the curve (AUC) of patients with heart failure was predicted to be 0.737(P<0.01). Analysis of the correlation between the decrease of extracellular moisture ratio after treatment and the increase of walking distance after 6 minutes of treatment showed a positive correlation. With the decrease of extracellular water ratio after treatment, the 6MWT distance increased continuously after treatment (r=0.164, P=0.032). In the observation group, the 6 minute walking distance, extracellular water ratio, the added value of BMI, added value of 6 minute walking distance after treatment, after treatment of extracellular water reducing ratio, and BMI lower values were (438.76±89.16) m, (0.380±0.021)%, (24.74±3.13) kg/m2, (129.20±18.62) m, 0.010±0.006, (2.71±0.89) kg/m2, respectively. The control group were (356.40±85.28) m, (0.384±0.014)%, (25.93±2.68) kg/m2, (60.25±8.43) m, 0.009±0.008, (1.37±0.85) kg/m2. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (t=1.726-15.739, P<0.05). Conclusions The extracellular moisture ratio indicates the degree of heart failure. Clinical treatment combined with early rehabilitation nursing intervention is superior to conventional nursing in patients with heart failure, which can significantly increase the patient′s 6MWT and reduce the patient′s BMI, which is worth popularizing and applying. Key words: Early rehabilitation nursing intervention; Heart failure; Extracellular moisture ratio; 6 minute walking distance; Body mass index