Objective To explore the application effect of humanistic care intervention in nursing of long-term hospitalized elderly psychiatric patients.Methods Thirty-one elderly psychiatric patients with long-term hospitalization in Guangzhou Hui′ai Hospital from October 2018 to January 2019 were selected as research subjects.They were divided into experimental group (n=14) and control group (n=17) by drawing lottery using simple random sampling.Patients in the experimental group were intervened with humanistic care on the basis of routine nursing, while patients in the control group received routine nursing alone.The nurses′ observation scale for inpatient evaluation (NOSIE) score and inpatient′s satisfaction score of the two groups were compared.Results The social ability, social interest, total positive factor scores, total NOSIE score, and hospitalization satisfaction in the experimental group after intervention were higher than those before intervention as well as those in the control group, with statistical differences (P<0.05).The irritability score was lower than that before the intervention in this group and that in the control group, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05).There were no significant differences in the scores of individual cleanliness, mental illness, retardation, depression, and total negative factors between the two groups (P＞0.05).Conclusion Humanistic care intervention can improve patients′ social ability and enthusiasm for life to a certain extent, and increase hospitalization satisfaction.