Objective To explore the application effect of traditional Chinese medicine nursing in patients with herpes zoster. Methods A total of 50 patients with herpes zoster admitted to Weihai Municipal Hospital from January 2022 to January 2023 were randomly divided into study group and control group, with 25 patients in each group. The study group and the control group were treated with traditional Chinese medicine nursing and routine nursing respectively. The improvement of symptoms, pain and nursing satisfaction were compared between the two groups. Results The blister stopping time, pain relief time, herpes healing time and scab formation time in the study group were shorter than those in the control group, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The VAS score of the two groups after nursing was lower than that before nursing, and that in the study group was lower than that in the control group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The nursing satisfaction score of the study group was higher than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion Traditional Chinese medicine nursing can improve clinical symptoms and relieve pain in patients with herpes zoster, and patients' satisfaction with nursing is high