This paper investigates the global adaptive finite-time stabilization of a class of switched nonlinear systems, whose subsystems are all in p (p 6 1) normal form with unknown control coefficients and parametric uncertainties. The restrictions on the power orders and the nonlinear perturbations are relaxed. By using the parameter separation technique, the uncertain parameters are separated from nonlinear functions. A systematic design procedure for a common state feedback controller and a switching adaptive law is presented by employing the backstepping methodology. It is proved that the closed-loop system is finite-time stable under arbitrary switching by utilizing the common Lyapunov function. Finally, with the application to finite-time control of chemical reactor systems, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated.