Are nurses healthier and happier than the general public?

During the last decade, an increasing amount of research has been done on the health of nurses. This work has been limited by a focus on illness and single health behaviors as well as by a lack of systematic comparisons with non-nurses. Analysis of General Social Survey data from the National Opinion Research Center is used to compare the general health status, experiences and behaviors, and general level of happiness of nurses with non-nurses. Findings suggest that nurses tend to evaluate their personal health status more positively than non-nurses, although nurses and non-nurses tend to be very similar in terms of their smoking behaviors and the amount of hospitalizations, disabilities, and stressful life events that they experience. Nurses, however, more often report using alcoholic beverages. Finally, both nurses and non-nurses report rather high levels of happiness with their personal lives and marriages.