Nurses' health: work and family influences

Nurses represent the largest group of professional caregivers. Most are also informal caregivers for family members, including children, parents, spouses, and other relatives. The impact of these caregiving roles, individually and in combination, has important implications for the health of nurses. This article focuses on nurses' health, emphasizing research on the influence of the work and family stress on physical and psychosocial dimensions of health. Health and safety concerns of nurses are discussed and findings from longitudinal studies of nurses' health are presented. Challenges for maintaining a healthy nursing workforce for the future are discussed.