BackgroundTurnover intention occurs frequently in nurses and psychological empowerment has been shown to be major factors that influence turnover intention. However, little is known about the driving force behind turnover intention among nurses in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.ObjectivesTo investigate the mediating role of job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion on the association between psychological empowerment and turnover intention among Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA cross-sectional design was conducted in China. A total of 507 nurses completed scales of psychological empowerment, job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion and turnover intention anonymously. Descriptive analysis, Pearson’s correlation analysis in SPSS 23.0 and structural equation modeling (SEM) by Mplus 7.4ResultsPsychological empowerment had a significantly effect on turnover intention through three significantly indirect pathways: (1) through job satisfaction (B = -0.14, SE = .03, 95% CI = [-.19, -.09]). (2) through emotional exhaustion (B = -0.07, SE = .02, 95% CI = [-.11, -.03]). (3) through the chain mediating effect of “job satisfaction → emotional exhaustion” (B = -0.12, SE = .02, 95% CI = [-.16, -.09]).ConclusionsIntervention measures to reduce the incidence of turnover intention of nurses should include the evaluations of work demands and emotional exhaustion of nurses and organization’s management strategies to promote their psychological empowerment and job satisfaction.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-023-01357-y.