Objective: The aim is to investigate the application effect of flipped classroom combined with problem-based learning (PBL) teaching method in the teaching of respiratory intensive care unit nursing. Methods: 100 fresh nursing students who were interned in the respiratory intensive care unit of our hospital from June 2020 to May 2022 were selected and randomly divided into 50 students in the control group and 50 students in the experimental group. The students in the control group were taught by PBL teaching method, and the students in the experimental group were taught by flipped classroom combined with PBL teaching method. After the completion of the teaching, the teachers combined the performance of the two groups of students, and scored them comprehensively in terms of their professional theoretical knowledge, clinical operation skills, independent learning ability, and teamwork ability, and carried out a survey of the experimental group’s students in terms of their satisfaction with the understanding of theoretical knowledge, clinical operation, independent learning ability, teamwork ability, and other dimensions. Results: There was no statistical significance in the specialized theoretical knowledge scores of the two groups of students (P > 0.05). The scores of clinical operation, independent learning ability, and teamwork ability of the two groups of students were statistically significant (P < 0.05), and all the scores of the students in the experimental group were higher than that of the control group. More than 90% of the students believed that the flipped classroom combined with PBL teaching method could assist in the comprehension of theoretical knowledge, improve the clinical operation skills, enhance the ability of independent learning and teamwork; there were 92% of the students supported the use of flipped classroom combined with PBL teaching in respiratory intensive care unit nursing teaching. Conclusion: In the teaching of respiratory intensive care unit nursing, the use of flipped classroom combined with PBL teaching method can improve the learning effect of students, and has certain value in teaching.