Objective To explore the relationship between resources (professional value, psychological capital, emotional intelligence, organizational support), emotional labor and patient satisfaction, so as to provide reference for stimulating new ideas for nurses′ emotional labor management. Methods A total of 247 nurses were investigated utilizing a general information questionnaire, the Nurses′ Emotional Labor Scale, the Nursing Professional Values Scale, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire-Revised, the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale and the Nurses′ Perceived Organizational Support Scale. Results The nurses′ emotional labor items averagely scored (4.22±0.59) points.The total score and subscale scores of nurses′ emotional labor in the high patient satisfaction group were significantly higher than those in the low patient satisfaction group (P＜0.05 for all).The nurses′ emotional labor was positively correlated with professional values, psychological capital, emotional intelligence and organizational support (P＜0.05 for all).Structural equation model analysis showed that, the model fit well (CFI=0.960,TLI=0.941,RMSEA=0.092,SRMR=0.054), and resources could indirectly predict patient satisfaction by using emotional labor as the mediating variable (P=0.027，95%CI=0.015-0.245). Conclusion Nurses′ emotional labor is at a high level and positively affects patient satisfaction.The high resource stock could positively predict patient satisfaction through high-level emotional labor.Nursing managers should provide resource protection for nurses to stimulate positive effects of emotional labor, improve patient satisfaction, and form a resource gain spiral.