Objective To study current situations of occupational burnout and humanistic care ability of the nurses in our hospital and explore the relationship between them. Method Nursing burnout scale (NBS) and caring ability inventory(CAI) were adopted in the investigation among 542 nurses in our hospital. Results The total score on the nursing burnout of the nurses of my hospital was 96 to 214, with an average of (155.04 ± 17.01). The burnout among 245 of them (45.20%) was in mild to moderate degree and that among 155 of them (28.60%) in a severe level. The score on humanistic care ability was 94 to 253 with an average of (178.14 ± 23.66). The ability among 46.31%of them was at a middle level and that among 25.46%of them at a low level. The occupational burnout of the nurses was negatively correlated with their humanistic care ability as well as with its three dimensions of cognition, courage and patience (P<0.01). Conclusions The occupational burnout can be alleviated by reducing the pressure in their caregiving practice. Their humanistic care ability can be enhanced by improving humanistic care nursing education and bettering humanistic care system.