Objective To investigate the prevalence of workplace violence and explore the relationship between workplace violence and emotional intelligence among psychiatric nurses Methods Totally 453 nurses were enrolled from five psychiatric hospitals via regional stratification and clustersampling in Shandong province. The workplace violence frequency scale, emotional intelligence scale were administered. Results The average workplace violence score among psychiatric nurses was (6.64 ± 3.56) points, while the emotional intelligence average score was (3.79 ± 0.37) points. The each dimensions of emotional intelligence were negatively correlated with workplace violence and types of workplace violence among psychiatric nurses(r=-0.496--0.214, P<0.01). Results of hierarchical liner regression showed that self-emotion management, type of ward, emotional awareness, hospital degree, gender could negatively predict workplace violence of psychiatric nurses (R2=0.333,F=44.636, P=0.000). Conclusions Workplace violence is prevalent among psychiatric nurses, and emotional intelligence might have influence on workplace violence.