The relation between cognitive emotion regulation and intention to leave in the context of nurse-patient interaction was examined. Emotional exhaustion, which is known as the critical component of burnout, was included as a mediator. Questionnaires were assessed among 268 nurses. First, factors of cognitive emotion regulation was extracted; “attribution to doctor and hospital,” ”active cause investigation,” “distancing,” “meaning making,” “positive reappraisal” and “attribution to patient.” Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed to examine which of these factors predict “the intention to leave” and “emotional exhaustion.” Results showed that “positive reappraisal” predicted lower emotional exhaustion, whereas “attribution to doctor and hospital” predicted higher emotional exhaustion. Also, “attribution to patient” predicted higher intention to leave. Next, the effects of each emotion regulation strategies on intention to leave were analyzed by including emotional exhaustion as a mediator. The results showed that “attribution to doctor and hospital” increases intention to leave by mediating emotional exhaustion, whereas “positive reappraisal” decreases intention to leave by mediating emotional exhaustion. Finally, the significance of these findings and the limits of this study were discussed.