This study was performed to investigate the relationship among reciprocity, emotional labor, nursing service quality and intent to leave, and to identify factors influencing nursing service quality and intent to leave.

This study was a cross-sectional survey. Participants were 300 nurses working at five general hospitals in two provincial cities in Gyeongsang Province, Korea. From May 1 to June 30, 2014, data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed with SPSS/PC ver 20.0 programs.

There were relationships between reciprocity and nursing service quality, and intent to leave, and between emotional labor and intent to leave. Participants' general characteristics, reciprocity and emotional labor explained 48.4% of variance in nursing service quality and participants' general characteristics and these two independent variables explained 31.9% of intent to leave.

These findings indicate that from the perception of hospital nurses, reciprocity and emotional labor are both very important factors to improve the quality of nursing service and decrease the intent to leave. So nursing managers should try to develop various personnel management programs focused on human emotions, and create a mutual respectable organizational culture and work environment.