Objective To describe the characteristics of organizational culture,to identify the level of quality of work life,and to explore the relationship between each dimension of organizational culture and quality of work life among nurses in tertiary hospitals in Yunnan Province,China.Methods The subjects were 416 nurses from six tertiary hospitals in Yunnan Province.Research instruments were the Organizational Culture Profile (OCP) and the Quality of Work Life Scale (QWLS).Results The results of this study showed that four dimensions of organizational culture including competitiveness (3.56 ± 0.49);performance orientation (4.08 ± 0.22);stability (3.68 ± 0.43) and social responsibility (3.95 ± 0.37) were prominent.The other 3 dimensions,namely supportiveness (3.19 ± 0.79);innovation (3.21 ±.0.62) and emphasis on rewards were perceived (2.42 ± 0.79) as less prominent.The overall mean score of quality of work life was at a moderate level (57.46 ± 15.17).Conclusion There are positive significant correlation between each dimension of organizational culture and quality of work life (P＜ 0.01).Improvement of organizational culture can enhance quality of work life among nurses,and then guarantee the nursing quality.