Objective: The paper aims to explore the status of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses’ self-esteem,job satisfaction,and subjective well-being and to investigate the relationship among the three elements.Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 224 nurses from five teaching hospitals in Tianjin,China,was conducted.Self-esteem scale,job satisfaction scale,and subjective well-being scale were used to explore the status of ICU nurses’ self-esteem,job satisfaction,and subjective well-being.Correlation among the three elements was calculated by SPSS 17.0.Results: The scores of three scales (i.e.,ICU nurses’ self-esteem,job satisfaction,and subjective well-being) were 27.67 ± 3.41,43.57 ± 9.04,and 69.73 ± 11.60,respectively.The subjective well-being was significantly positively correlated with self-esteem and job satisfaction (r =0.454,P ＜ 0.01;r =0.584,P ＜ 0.01,respectively).Conclusion: The study shows that the prevalence of subjective well-being and self-esteem with ICU nurses are at a low level,and job satisfaction is at the median level.Associations among self-esteem,job satisfaction,and subjective well-being in ICUs have been confirmed.Self-esteem and job satisfaction positively correlated with nurse subjective well-being.The higher the self-esteem and job satisfaction levels are,the stronger the subjective well-being is.The working pressure in ICUs cannot be alleviated temporarily;hence,to promote a high subjective well-being,managers and ICU nurses increase their self-esteem and job satisfaction through taking strategies that strengthen psychological construction.