Purpose: This study aimed to further understand the experience related to emotional labor among the emergency room (ER) nurses Methods: Data for the study were collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 8 nurses working at ER in tertiary-hospital settings. Conventional content analysis method was adopted. Results: Data analysis revealed 3 categories and 8 major topics on the participants’ experience of emotional labor at ER. The first category ‘the nature of nursing at emergency room’ involves three topics: ‘making quick, smooth interactions with people around ER’, ‘heavy, demanding workloads for ER nurses’, and ‘difficulties embedded in working environment’. The second category ‘rules of emotional expression and management’ includes two topics: ‘norms of emotional expression required for ER nurses’ and ‘work-centered emotional management.’ The last category ‘exhaustion, adaptation, and the sense of reward’ has three topics: ‘burn-out’, ‘recharging and withstanding’, and ‘reeling rewarded’ While experiencing ‘burn-out’ due to the negative effect of emotional labor, participating nurses reported that they also felt the sense of rewarding by restoring positive emotions through proper self-management, positive feedback and social support. Conclusion: The findings show that the nature of ER care required intensive emotional labor from nurses. Thus, it is imperative to provide interventions that assist ER nurses to reduce the negative impact of emotional labor and reinforce its positive influence on their lives, with systemic approaches to reduce the intensity of emotional labor and improve working conditions in ER settings.