Objective To explore the application effect of narrative nursing in the nursing before and after disease information disclosure for cancer patients. Methods Totally 122 postoperative cancer patients admitting to the oncology department for the first time were divided into an intervention group (61 patients admitted to the second ward) and a control group (61 patients admitted to the first ward) using a random number table. The control group received routine nursing and health education during hospitalization, their family members′ opinion was respected after they were enrolled, if it was necessary to disclose their disease information, the primary physician informed them, then the primary nurse conducted psychological comfort after that. While the intervention group additionally received narrative nursing including attention, understanding, response and reflection. The degree of disease awareness and nurse-client communication satisfaction before and after the intervention were compared between the two groups. Results After the intervention, the rate of complete and partial disease awareness in the intervention group was 36.07% and 52.46%, which was 22.95% and 44.26% in the control group, there was significant difference between the two groups (P<0.01). The rate and total score of satisfaction on nurse-client communication in the intervention group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.01 for both). Conclusion Implementing narrative nursing for cancer patients can make good preparation for disease information disclosure, and help them establish positive psychological defense, then enhance their disease awareness rate significantly, and improve their communication satisfaction with nurses.