BACKGROUND: Health care workers, especially frontline nurses, faced great challenges during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. AIMS: To assess the magnitude of the psychological status and associated risk factors among nurses in the pandemic center in Wuhan, China. METHODS: In this study, we enrolled nurses from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University. The questionnaire was designed to obtain basic information of the participants, and included four psychological assessment scales. We issued the questionnaires at two different points of time. We conducted the first survey on January 29 to February 2 (outbreak period) with 709 eligible responses, and the second survey on February 26 to February 28 (stable period) with 621 eligible responses. The nurses from Wuchang Fangcang shelter hospital were also enrolled in the second survey. RESULTS: During the pandemic, over one-third of nurses suffered from depression, anxiety, and insomnia. In the outbreak period, the nurses showed significantly higher risks for depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms than those in the stable period (P < 0.01). Notably, the nurses from the Fangcang shelter hospitals were more likely to present psychological problems than those from other frontline or non-frontline (all P < 0.001) units, especially for insomnia (38.3% with severe insomnia). The nurses from the frontline, with worse physical condition and uncertain concerns about this pandemic as compared to the others, were more likely to bear psychological problems. Thus, online psychological information and sufficient protection conditions were effective interventions to help mitigate psychological distress. The nurses from Fangcang shelter hospitals suffered a significantly higher risk of psychological problems than those from other units. CONCLUSION: The psychological status of nurses needs more attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for those who fought in the frontline during the peak of the outbreak.