Background & Aim: Nursing is an example of a kind of job which regarding facing a variety of tensions in the work environment and working shifts and compressed working hours as well as workload causes stress for nurses, and long-term stress in them results to burnout. In this study the role of personality characteristics in nurses’ burnout is examined. 
 Materials and Methods: This study was a correlational study. The statistical population consisted of all nurses working at the state hospitals of Ilam city, 200 of them were selected by simple random method and answered the questionnaires for NEO personality characteristics (Neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and Maslach burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment). Also the statistical multiple regression method was used to examine the relation between personality characteristics and burnout.
 Results: The study findings show that emotional exhaustion has positive and negative meaningful relation with neurosis and extraversion respectively  = β)0.35 , P<0.05 ) and = β)0.25, P<0.05 ). Depersonalization has a positive relation with neurosis = β)0.36 , P<0.05), a negative relation with extraversion = β ) – 0.15 , P<0.05 ), and a negative relation with agreeableness = β) – 0.24 , P<0.05), and reduced personal accomplishment has a positive relation with extraversion = β)-0.34 , P<0.05), a negative relation with agreeableness = β) -0.15 , P<0.05) and a positive relation with conscientiousness              = β) 0.22 , P<0.05). All of these relationships were meaningful.
Conclusion: Different dimensions of Personality have several characteristic effects on burnout therefore by evaluation of nurses personality characteristics in the initial phase of employment the degree of burnout can be predicted.