Objective To develop early mobilization protocol for liver cancer patients and to explore the application effect. Methods Ninety-three patients with liver cancer undergoing hepatectomy were assigned to a control group of 45 and an intervention group of 48 according to their admission time. The control group was given routine mobilization, while the intervention group was subjected to early mobilization program: the best evidence was retrieved and integrated to develop an evidence-based early mobilization protocol, then work process was revised.Results The intervention group had higher incidence of out-of-bed activity within postoperative 24 h, earlier out-of-bed mobilization, better postoperative activity performance, earlier flatus and defecation, shorter gastric tube indwelling time, lower pain intensity and higher satisfaction with pain control compared with the control group (P＜0.05, P＜0.01). Adverse events during mobilization had no significant difference between the two groups （P＞0.05）.Conclusion Implementation of evidence-based early mobilization practice protocol for liver cancer surgery can boost recovery of patients without increa-sing safety events.