Abstract: This article briefly reviewed the development of nursing sensitive quality indicators. On this basis, it expounded the connotation and extension of nursing sensitive quality indicators. Through the comparison of nursing quality sensitive indicators set released by different institutions, it extracted nursing quality sensitive indicators which conformed to general rules of quality management, and was featured with measurability, nurse leading, concern for patients' feelings,emphasison nursing thinking and effectiveness. Then, it introduced the general process and methods of developing nursing sensitive quality indicators, and way of using these indicators to continuously promote the improvement of nursing quality.With the concept of "using evidence to guide the improvement of nursing quality instead of experience management"gradually becoming a consensus, nursing sensitive quality indicators will play an increasingly important role in nursing quality management in China.