Introduction: Emotional intelligence is considered to involve attention to human resources in the organizations and can be used as a modern tool for guiding people inside and outside the organizations. On the other hand, job motivation can explain the willingness of employees to overcome barriers of employment and working conditions. This study aimed to examine the effect of emotional intelligence on job motivation among nursing personnel in public hospitals of Kermanshah, Iran, in 2015.Methods: The study population was all nurses working at public hospitals of Kermanshah City in 2015. Using the random sampling method and based on the Cochran formula, 142 samples were selected. Data were collected using the emotional intelligence questionnaire of Bar-On and job motivation questionnaire of Hackman and Oldham. Data were analyzed using inferential statistics and Pearson correlation test with the SPSS software version 20.Results: The results showed a positive and significant correlation between emotional intelligence, and job motivation in public hospitals of Kermanshah City. Pearson's correlation coefficient for the correlation between moral and emotional intelligence showed the correlation between job motivation and self-awareness (r=0.542, P=0.021), self-respect (r=0.782, P=0.033), social skills (r=0.757, P=0.037), empathy (r=0.615, P=0.015), and flexibility (r=0, 631, P=0.010), which represents a strong positive correlation between all the ethical components of emotional intelligence and job motivation among nurses in public hospitals of Kermanshah, Iran.Conclusions: Job motivation plays an important role in improving the quality of nursing services. The results showed a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and job motivation. So, job motivation could improve by strengthening emotional intelligence training among nursing staff.