Background Work engagement is affected by many factors. The level of work engagement among dental nurses is unknown. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 215 dental nurses. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Chinese Nurse Stressors Scale, Work-related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and General Well-Being Schedule were applied to measure Chinese nurses’ work engagement, job stress, psychological flexibility, perceived social support and subjective well-being, respectively. Univariate analysis was used to identify the relationships of work engagement with demographic and psychological characteristics. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was applied to test the variance in work engagement accounted for by factors related to work engagement in the univariate analysis. Results The level of work engagement among Chinese dental nurses was moderate or above. Work engagement was positively associated with perceived social support, psychological flexibility and subjective well-being but negatively correlated with job stress. The hierarchical regression analysis showed that age, job stress, psychological flexibility and subjective well-being were significantly correlated with work engagement, though perceived social support was not, all of those psychological variables together explained 34.7% of the variance in work engagement. Conclusions Dental nurses in China had an acceptable level of work engagement in terms of vigour, dedication and absorption. Increased job stress resulted in lower work engagement. Nurses who had higher levels of perceived social support, psychological flexibility and subjective well-being also had higher work engagement. It is necessary to understand the job stress of nurses, strengthen nurses’ social support, relieve nurses’ job stress, improve nurses’ psychological flexibility and subjective well-being, which will improve nurses’ work engagement levels.

Aim: To identify the level of work engagement among dental nurses in China and explore the correlation between work engagement and psychological characteristics.Background: Work engagement is affected by many factors, level of work engagement among dental nurses is unknown.Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 215 dental nurses. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9), Chinese Nurse Stressors Scale (CNSS), Work-related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (WAAQ), Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and General Well-Being Schedule (GWBS) were applied to measure Chinese nurses’ work engagement, job stress, psychological flexibility, perceived social support and subjective well-being respectively. Univariate analysis was used to identify the relationships of work engagement with demographic and psychological characteristics. Hierarchical regression analysis was applied to test the variance in work engagement accounted for by factors related to work engagement in the univariate analysis.Results: The level of work engagement in Chinese dental nurses was moderate or above. Work engagement was positively associated with perceived social support, psychological flexibility and subjective well-being but negatively correlated with job stress. The hierarchical regression analysis showed that job stress, psychological flexibility and subjective well-being were significantly correlated with work engagement, which explained 36.2% of the variance in work engagement.Conclusions: Dental nurses in China had an acceptable level of work engagement in terms of vigour, dedication and absorption. Increased job stress would result in lower work engagement. Nurses who had higher levels of psychological flexibility and subjective well-being also had higher work engagement. We should emphasize the job stress of nurses, strengthen support for organizational culture, create a good work environment and interpersonal relationships, relieve nurses’ job stress, improve nurses’ levels of subjective well-being, and thus improve nurses’ work engagement levels.