Objective To understand the experience of ward head nurses in implementing humanistic care for patients, so as to provide reference for formulating caring improvement strategies. Methods A descriptive phenomenological research method was used to conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews with 17 ward head nurses from 7 hospitals. The interview data were analyzed by using Colaizzi 7-step analysis method. Results Five themes were extracted:perception of importance, rich care measures, multi-level benefits, presence of barriers, and expectations of care and support. Conclusion There are gains and difficulties in the experience of implementing humanistic care for patients by ward head nurses. Hospital managers should improve the management mechanism according to the current situation, and enable ward head nurses to carry out humanistic care for patients more comprehensively and deeply.