Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among emotional intelligence, empathy and facilitative communication ability of psychiatric nurses. Methods: Participants were 173 conveniently selected psychiatric nurses from 10 hospitals in Korea. Data were collected from June to September, 2015 through self-reported questionnaires. Results: Facilitative communication ability was significantly different depending on educational level (t=6.06, p=.003). There were significant positive correlations between emotional intelligence and facilitative communication ability (r=.61, p<.001), and also between empathy and facilitative communication ability (r=.63, p<.001). In the multiple regression, except for education level, emotional intelligence (β=.17, p=.003) and empathy (β=.21, p=.000) explained 38.2% of the variance in facilitative communication ability. Conclusion: These findings indicate that emotional intelligence and empathy are important factors in psychiatric nurses` facilitative communication ability. Accordingly, to improve the facilitative communication ability of psychiatric nurses, educational programs based on development of emotional intelligence and empathy are necessary.