OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the work environment and leadership in nursing. METHOD: An integrative review of literature which was based on data from LILACS, PubMed, CINAHL and the SciELO portal for journals covering the period from January to April 2013. The inclusion criteria were: the indexing of research covering leadership exercised by nurses over a team and whether the research was available in English, Spanish or Portuguese. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 12 articles that met the criteria. CONCLUSION: The results showed that leadership had an impact on the work environment. However, no studies were found that showed the influence of the working environment on leadership in nursing.