Objective To explore an internet-based mental health service pathway, and to maintain the mental health of the public. Methods We constructed a nurse-led internet-based psychological counseling hotline. Senior nurses with national second-class psychological counselor qualification certificate were selected as hotline operators.They provided for internet visitors a slew of psychological health services, such as running psychological assessment, determining psychological nursing diagnosis, giving psychological counseling and making referral of high-risk patients. Results Over the span of January 30th through December 1st, 2020, the hotline visitors received 1 403 counts of psychological assessment, 1 246 counts of mental health education, 953 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy, 894 sessions of progressive muscle relaxation training, 642 sessions of music therapy. At the last count, 38 visitors were referred to the neurology department, and 92.5% of the visitors were satisfied with the internet-based psychological counseling hotline. Conclusion Construction of the nurse-led internet-based psychological counseling hotline improves the accessibility of psychological counseling service and promotes the standardized development of online psychological counseling.