OBJECTIVE In this study, a person-centred approach was used to analyse career success profiles and explore the associated psychosocial factors among nurses. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted from 15 April to 15 October 2019. METHODS A total of 1155 registered Chinese nurses were recruited from two general hospitals using convenience sampling. Participants completed a printed questionnaire, including the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Stress of Conscience Questionnaire, Practice Environment Scale, and Career Success Scale. Latent profile analysis and multinomial logistic regression were performed. The data were analysed with Mplus 8.3 and SPSS version 26.0. RESULTS Three latent profiles of career success were identified: high, moderate and low. Nurses with lower educational levels, more years of work experience, lower emotional exhaustion, higher personal achievement, lower stress of conscience and higher participation in hospital affairs were more likely to have higher career success than the other profiles. CONCLUSIONS Burnout, stress of conscience, practice environment, educational level and years of work experience were associated with career success among nurses. Targeting interventions may help enhance nurses' career success. Future research should combine subjective and objective indicators (salary, title and so on) to assess career success and explore other determinants for formulating interventions to enhance nurses' career success. CONCLUSIONS The heterogeneity and psychosocial factors associated with nurses' career success provide valuable evidence for the formulation of individualized interventions. Nursing managers should understand the importance of career success, develop interventions to reduce nurses' burnout and stress of conscience, and improve the practice environment to enhance their career success. This study was designed to examine the psychosocial factors associated with nurses' career success. The study was not conducted using suggestions from the patient groups or the public.