Objective To investigate the present status and influencing factors of psychological distress among psychiatric nurses, and provide theoretical basis for intervention measures. Methods Totally, 812 psychiatric nurses in six psychiatric hospitals of Shandong province were selected to complete the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), Perceived Organizational Support(POS), Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire(SCSQ) and Emotion regulation questionnaire(ERQ). Results The mean scores of psychological distress among psychiatric nurse was (21.29±8.11) points,70.3%of psychiatric nurses had psychological distress. There were significant differences in psychological distress among psychiatric nurses with different age (F=6.886,P=0.001), working years (F=4.403,P=0.004), professional title (F=6.597,P=0.000) and experience of nurse-patient conflict (F=7.228,P=0.000).Psychological distress was negatively related to cognitive reappraisal(r =- 0.093), positive coping style (r =- 0.163) and perceived organizational support(r =- 0.379), while psychological distress was positively related to expressive suppression(r=0.160) and negative coping style(r=0.258)(all P<0.01). Regression analysis revealed that the factors impacting psychological distress were positive coping style, perceived organizational support, expressive suppression, negative coping style and nurse-patient conflict (R2=0.224,F=46.611,P=0.000). Conclusions Psychiatric nursing managers should pay attention to the cultivation of emotional management ability of nurses and the ability to deal with conflict,encouraging them apply positive thinking cognition and positive coping style to deal with negative events in the work,creating a supportive work environment in order to improve the level of mental health.