The purpose of this study is to analyze characteristics of character strengths and effect factors of subjective happiness of oncology nurses. This research was conducted on the theoretical background of positive psychology.

This study was a cross-sectional study that data were collected from 182 oncology nurses working in a cancer hospital with 500 beds from January to March, 2017. The research instruments were self-reported questionnaires of VIA-IS and Subjective Happiness Scale. The data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, and multiple linear regression analysis.

The average of items about total score of character strengths was 3.38 (±0.29) on the 5-point Likert scale and about subjective happiness was 4.95 (±0.90) on the 7-point Likert scale. Signature strengths of the subjects were classified by six sub-areas of character strengths, frequency of humanity was highest and followed by courage. The level of subjective happiness has significant positive correlations with character strengths. The factors that affect subjective happiness of oncology nurses were job-satisfaction and total score of character strengths. The explanatory power of these factors on the subjective happiness was 34.0%.

We recommend to develop a happiness enhancing program focused on job-satisfaction and character strengths for oncology nurses and to verify their effectiveness.