Abstract: Objective To explore the mediating role of self-care in the relationship between perceived professional benefits and work engagement among emergency department nurses,in order to provide a basis for nursing managers to develop relevant training programs and intervention measures to improve the work engagement. Methods The convenience sampling was used to select emergency department nurses from five grade-A tertiary general hospitals in Jiangsu from April to June 2023. The questionnaires were conducted using the general information survey,nurses' perceived professional benefits scale,nurses' self-care scale,and work engagement scale,and the data were analyzed. Results The total score of the nurses' self-care scale in the emergency department nurses was （138.70±15.15）points,the total score of perceived professional benefits was （120.67±14.44） points,and the total score of the work engagement scale was （35.02±7.66）points. The total score of perceived professional benefits was positively correlated with the total scores of self-care and work engagement（r=0.634,0.519,both P<0.01）,and the self-care was positively correlated with work engagement（r=0.528,P<0.01）. The self-care had a partial mediating effect between perceived professional benefits and work engagement,with a mediation effect value of 0.237,accounting for 52.48% of the total effect. Conclusion The self-care of emergency department nurses is a mediator variable between perceived professional benefits and work engagement,so the nursing managers should pay attention to the cultivation of nurses' self-care,improve perceived professional benefits,and thereby enhance nurses' work engagement,improve the quality of nursing care,and ensure patient safety.

Key words: Emergency department, Nurses, Self-care, Perceived professional benefits, Work engagement, Mediating effect