Objective To explore the effects of a humanistic teaching based on ICARE concept in nursing interns of a higher vocational college. Methods From October 2020 to November 2021，the nursing interns were divided into the control group（n=30） and the experimental group（n=32） according to the time they entered the clinical practice in a digestire surgery department. Students in the control group received routine teaching，while students in the experimental group received humanistic teaching based on ICARE concept. The teaching used in the experimental group including various teaching methods with the clinical cases to illustrate the humanistic spirit of integrity，compassion，accountability，respect，and excellence. At the end of practice，the two groups were compared on their humanistic care ability and caring behavior. Results At the end of 4 weeks’ practice，the scores of humanistic caring ability（190.41±5.92） and caring behavior（111.19±5.64） in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group（182.17±6.75 and 101.50±4.48，respectively）（all P<0.05）. Conclusion Humanistic teaching based on ICARE concept is helpful to enhance the humanistic caring ability and stimulate caring behavior of nursing interns in the higher vocational colleges.