Objective To explore the effect of narrative intervention on improving mental health of ICU nurses. Methods Eighty ICU nurses were randomized into two groups, with 40 in each group. The control group was given traditional psychological counseling, while the intervention group received one-to-one narrative intervention provided by trained nurses, using 5 main techniques as externalization, deconstruction, rewriting, external witness, and therapeutic documents. The Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) was used to measure the effect before and after the intervention.Results The total SCL-90 score and subscale scores in the intervention group after the intervention were significantly lower compared with the baseline and the control group (P<0.05, P<0.01). Conclusion Narrative nursing can effectively improve mental health of ICU nurses.