Objective: To explore the effects of prospective nursing education on compliance and postoperative recovery of children undergoing laparoscopic hernia surgery. Methods: A total of 300 children with hernia undergoing laparoscopic surgery in the hospital from January 2015 to December 2019 were enrolled as the research objects. Random-number table method was used to divide the patients into two groups: the control group (n=150) received routine nursing care, and the experimental group (n=150) received prospective nursing education. The compliance, postoperative recovery, complications, anxiety and depression status of children, and parental nursing satisfaction were compared between the two groups. Results: After surgery, the treatment compliance rate was significantly better in experimental group than control group (96.00% vs 87.33%), and hospitalization time was significantly shorter in experimental group (P<0.05). After 1 month of nursing, scores of Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) and Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) were significantly lower in experimental group than control group (P<0.05). During nursing, there was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative complications between experimental group and control group (4.67%, 8.67%) (P>0.05). The scores of parental nursing satisfaction with health education and nursing attitude were significantly higher in experimental group than control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Prospective nursing education can enhance postoperative compliance of children undergoing laparoscopic hernia surgery, improve anxiety and depression, and significantly shorten postoperative hospitalization time, with higher parental satisfaction.