We aimed to determine sleep quality and anxiety levels of surgical nurses fighting the COVID-19 ‎outbreak. This study was carried out as a cross-sectional and descriptive study. The data were collected by ‎using a sociodemographic data form, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory (PSQI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory ‎‎(BAI). A total of 302 healthcare workers participated in this study. The mean age of the participants was ‎‎31.95±7.82, and 73.2% of the participants were female, 58.9% of the participants were married and 31.5% ‎of them working in the surgical intensive care and operating room services. Of all participants, 73.5% had ‎poor sleep quality and mean PSQI was 8.18±3.69. The BAI score of surgical nurses was 16.61±12.12 and ‎‎22.5% of them experienced severe anxiety. The means of PSQI and BAI were higher in women, working in ‎surgical intensive care and operating room services, working over 40 hours a week (p<0.05). BAI score was ‎responsible for 45.6% of the change on PSQI score (p<0.001). The COVID-19 outbreak dramatically ‎increased the level of anxiety and negatively affected sleep quality. The mental health of the surgical nurses ‎should be monitored closely. It is recommended to provide psychological support to the healthcare workers.