Objective To explore the effect of targeted nursing on self-care ability and quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).Methods A total of 78 patients with T2DM who treated in our hospital from January 2017 to January 2019 were selected as the study objects.They were divided into the control group and the observation group by the random number table method, 39 cases in each group.The patients in the control group received routine nursing,while those in the observation group received targeted nursing.Blood glucose level, self-care ability score and quality of life score were compared between the two groups.Results The fasting blood glucose (FPG) and postprandial blood glucose (2 h FPG) in the observation group were higher than those in the control group, the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05).Self care responsibility score, health knowledge score, self care skill score, self concept score of the observation group after intervention were higher than that of the control group, the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05).Conclusion Targeted nursing has a positive impact on the self-care ability and quality of life of T2DM patients.It can improve the self-care ability and quality of life of patients, and has a high application value.