Introduction: Emotional intelligence and work satisfaction are fundamental aspects that nurses must cultivate, which would allow them to perceive not only their own emotions, but also those of patients and their relatives. This is basic to establish positive therapeutic relationships, as well as to develop actions that reinforce their self-worth and self-satisfaction with work done. Objective: To describe the relationship between emotional intelligence and work satisfaction in nurses from a regional hospital. Methods: Quantitative and cross-sectional study, with a descriptive-correlational design, carried out with 51 nurses from Julio Pinto Manrique Regional Hospital, of the National Police of Peru, in Arequipa. By means of a survey, the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24) and the NTP 394 General Job Satisfaction Scale were applied. The information was analyzed using absolute frequencies and percentages. For the bivariate analysis, the chi-square test was used when the normality requirement was met, with a level of statistical significance of P<0.05. Results: Of the nurses studied, 64.29% with moderate work satisfaction presented adequate emotional intelligence, 12.50% nurses with moderate dissatisfaction presented low emotional intelligence, 58.34% of civilian nurses with moderate work satisfaction presented adequate emotional intelligence, and 40% with indifferent work satisfaction presented low emotional intelligence. Conclusions: Among the nurses studied (whether certified or civilian), adequate emotional intelligence and moderate work satisfaction were found, with a significant relationship between these variables, which allowed to verify that they could management their own emotions adequately, as well as the emotions of others, when work satisfaction in the nurses was better.