Objective To investigate the effect of hospital-community based transitional nursing care on the outcomes (visits to the emergency department, hospital readmission, death and the heart failure related knowledge, self-care ability ) in post-discharge patients with acute decompensated heart failure （ADHF）. Methods Totally, 153 ADHF patients at discharge were randomly divided into 2 groups:the experimental group （n=77） was subjected to hospital-community based transitional nursing care and the control group （n=76） to conventional health education. The primary composite endpoints (numbers of visits to the emergency department within 180 days after discharge, hospital readmission, all-cause mortality rate) between the 2 groups were compared, likewise the patients′ knowledge of HF, and self-care ability. Results The incidence rates of primary composite endpoints in the experimental group were fewer than in the control group; the former also had higher knowledge and self-care ability levels than the latter （P＜0.05,P＜0.01）. Conclusion Hospital-community based transitional nursing care could improve ADHF patients knowledge of heart failure and self-care ability, and reduce the incidence rates of primary composite endpoints (numbers of visits to the emergency department after discharge, hospital readmission, all-cause mortality rate,etc.).