Objective To explore the effect of wake-up nursing with different frequencies on the recovery of patients transferred to PACU with endotracheal tube after endoscopic thoracic surgery under general anesthesia.Methods A total of 116 patients transferred to PACU with endotracheal tube after endoscopic thoracic surgery under general anesthesia were selected by convenience sampling method.To explore the effects of different frequencies (experimental group A every 5 minutes, experimental group B every 10 minutes, control group waiting for natural recovery) wake-up nursing on extubation time of endotracheal tube, recovery time after extubation, total recovery time, the degree of cough and agitation during recovery, success rate of extubation, incidence of hypoxemia and mean arterial pressure fluctuation after extubation.Results The extubation time of endotracheal tube was significantly different among the three groups, with the duration significantly shorter in the experimental group A and B than that in the control group (both P＜0.05), while there was no statistically significant difference between group A and group B (P＞0.05).The recovery time after extubation was significantly different among the three groups, with the duration significantly longer in the group A than that in the control group (P＜0.05).There weren′t statistically significant differences in the total recovery time, the success rate of extubation and the incidence of hypoxemia after extubation among the three groups (all P＞0.05).When compared with the control group, the degree of cough and agitation during recovery and the incidence of mean arterial pressure fluctuation after extubation in group A and group B were significantly lower (all P＜0.05).Conclusion Both 5 min and 10 min frequency of wake-up nursing can reduce the PACU mechanical ventilation time for patients after endoscopic thoracic surgery under general anesthesia, alleviate the severity of cough and agitation during recovery, maintain hemodynamic stability during extubation and improve the quality of recovery.