The negative perception of the ethical climate is a triggering factor for occupational complications and illnesses, including burnout syndrome. Objective: To identify the association between ethical climate and burnout syndrome among nurses working in the hospital environment. Method: Cross-sectional study carried out with a sample of 269 nurses from a public hospital in southern Brazil. The Hospital Ethical Climate Survey-Brazilian Version and the Maslach Burnout Inventory were used for collection. For analysis, descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis were used. Results: Significant association between the ethical climate and the dimensions of burnout syndrome. Nurses with low emotional exhaustion, low depersonalization and high professional achievement evaluated the ethical climate as positive. Conclusion: The results will help nurses and management to introduce improvements to reduce the incidence of burnout syndrome, as well as promoting a positive perception of the ethical climate.