Objective To explore the effect of early enteral nutrition nursing on nutritional status and gastrointestinal tolerance in burn patients. Methods A total of 70 burn patients admitted to the Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery of Yancheng No.1 People's Hospital from January 2017 to December 2022 were selected as the research objects. They were divided into early group and routine group by random number table method, with 35 cases in each group. The early group was given early enteral nutrition nursing (enteral nutrition nursing 12 hours after admission), and the routine group was given routine enteral nutrition nursing (enteral nutrition nursing 48 hours after admission). The nutritional status, gastrointestinal tolerance and complications were compared between the two groups. Results After implementation, serum albumin, serum transferrin and lymphocyte count in the early group were higher than those in the routine group, the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). The scores of abdominal pain, abdominal distension, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting in the early group were lower than those in the routine group, the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). The total incidence of complications in the early group was 5.71%, which was lower than 22.86% in the routine group, the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). Conclusion Early enteral nutrition nursing can help the nutritional status of burn patients return to normal levels, and help to improve gastrointestinal tolerance, reduce the risk of various related complications, and promote the rehabilitation of patients.