Aim: This study was carried out descriptively to determine the basic psychological needs of nurses and the factors that influence them. Materials and Method: The research was carried out in April-October 2014 on 706 nurses who both work in the state hospitals and in the university hospital in Van and have agreed to participate in the research. The research data was collected by using "Personal Information Form" and "Basic Psychological Needs Scale". The analysis of the data was observed by testing number, percentage, average, t-test in independent groups, One Way ANOVA test and Kruskal-Wallis test via SPSS 20.0 statistical analysis program. Result: After the examination of socio-demographic characteristicof nurses, following findings were revealed: %63.3 of nurses are women, %46.0 of nurses are 26-33, %49.2 of nurses are bachelor, %50.7 of nurses are married, %58.1 have no child, %41.2 of nurses have 2 children, %33.1 of nurses' income are partially sufficient, %53.1 of nurses' work years are about 1-5 years. TPIO total scores of the nurses were found to be 69.61 ± 8.84.The average subscales of TPIO scale for the need of autonomy subscale was about 22.61 ± 4.58, the need for qualification subscale was about 19.91±3.13 and the need for relationship subscale was about 27.43 ± 3.95. Conclusion: It was found that basic psychological needs of the nurses were at a high level.