Objective To explore the effect of applying health coaching in patient education on self-care ability of patients receiving preventive enterostomy. Methods A total of 110 rectal cancer patients receiving preventive enterostomy were randomly and evenly divided into 2 groups of 55 cases each.The control group received routine health education, which included individual education, group-based lectures twice a week (one on disease-related knowledge, the other on stoma care practice), and monthly follow-ups, etc. The intervention group additionally received health education regarding stoma management based on the health coaching model. The patients were assessed for self-care ability and post-operative stoma-related complications before and after the surgery. Results The intervention group had significantly higher scores in self-care ability on the 5th day, at one month, and 3 months postoperatively, than the control group （P＜0.01 for all）.The intervention group had significantly lower incidence rate of irritant dermatitis than the control group at one month, and 3 months after the surgery （P＜0.01 for both）. Conclusion Health coaching applied in patient education can improve self-care ability of patients receiving preventive enterostomy, and decrease the incidence rate of stoma-related complications of the procedure.