Purpose: This study was conducted to examine the effects of the nurse-led one-on-one discharge education on the levels of symptom experience and self-care compliance among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who had not previously participated in an education or respiratory rehabilitation program. Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental pre-and post-test design with nonequivalent control group. Sixty seven hospitalized patients (34 for experimental and 33 for control groups) were recruited from in-patient units of a general hospital from August to November, 2010. The one-on-one education session of symptom management and daily self-care was administered to experimental group for 50 minutes along with a follow-up phone call. Self-administered questionnaire was administered at the pretest and at 1 month after discharge. Results: The subjects were 67.43(${pm}10.24$)years old in average. The mean differences of symptom experience (t=3.39, p=.001) and self-care compliance (t=-38.13, p<.001) in the experimental group was significantly higher than those of the control group. Conclusion: Nurse-led one-on-one discharge education was effective in reducing the level of symptom experience and enhancing self-care compliance at home within one month after discharge. Therefore, this form of one-on-one education provided by nurses might be applicable effectively for COPD patients who do not have access to respiratory rehabilitation programs.