Objective To explore the application effect of an ethical conflict intervention protocol for emergency and critical care nurses based on the four-component model of ethical decision-making. Methods Based on the four-component model of ethical decision-making, an ethical conflict intervention protocol for emergency and critical care nurses was developed after literature review, semi-structured interviews, and a Delphi technique study.Thirty nurses from the department of emergency and critical care medicine of a grade A tertiary hospital in Jianyang city were selected, then they received three months intervention according to the ethical conflict intervention protocol, and their ethical conflict was assessed by using the Ethical Conflict in Nursing Questionnaire-Critical Care Version (ECNQ-CCV) before and after the intervention. Results The Kendall′s W for the two rounds of expert consultation were 0.396 and 0.468 (both P＜0.05).The intervention protocol consisted of 3 primary indicators, 6 secondary indicators, and 22 tertiary indicators.And a four-component decision-support system was formed:medical indication, patient preferences, quality of life and contextual features.After the intervention, nurses′ ethical conflict frequency, severity, exposure level, and total scores were significantly lower than those before the intervention (all P＜0.05). Conclusion The ethical conflict intervention protocol for emergency and critical care nurses is scientific and feasible, and it can reduce nurses′ ethical conflict effectively.