Objective To examine the effects of the appreciative inquiry in management of clinical nursing teachers. Methods Thirty-two clinical nursing teachers from a tertiary hospital in Anhui Province were recruited by convenience sampling. With the 4-D cycle model “discovery-dream-design-destiny” of the appreciative inquiry as the activity framework,4 sessions of nursing education guided by psychological counselors and participated by nursing manager were carried out through dialogues. After each dialogue,the nursing managers discussed,summarized,proposed improvement measures and plans,and carried out teaching reform. Nurses’ Career Success Scale and the Psychological Capital Questionnaire were used to investigate the effects of the appreciative inquiry before and after the intervention. Results A total of 29 clinical nursing teachers completed the study. After the implementation of the appreciative inquiry,the total scores of career success and psychological capital of clinical nursing teachers were（35.17±4.83） and（92.69±10.90） respectively,which were significantly higher than the corresponding scores of （31.83±3.38） and （84.48±11.14） respectively（t=3.344,P=0.002;t=2.768,P=0.010）. Conclusion The appreciative inquiry can improve the level of career success and psychological capital of clinical nursing teachers.