This paper comprehensively reviews the progress of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in clinical nursing, and explores its specific application in psychological care, pain care, sleep disorder care, health behavior intervention and chronic disease care. It then proposes that EMA can improve the accuracy and timeliness of nursing assessment, boost the development and optimization of personalized care plan, promote patients′ self-management ability and health behavior, optimize the allocation of healthcare resources and reduce the research cost. Further application and innovation of EMA in clinical nursing should be advanced.