By Jennifer Nelson

Nursing is often defined by its demands: long shifts, heavy patient loads, and the emotional weight of caring for others. But behind the negatives of nursing, many nurse practitioners (NPs) report a fuller picture: real happiness, strong relationships, and a growing sense of optimism about where their lives are headed. NPs were surveyed on their overall well-being, work-life balance, and personal relationships to find out how they're really doing — on and off the clock.

In this report, gender is based on how respondents self-identified in our survey.

Some totals in this presentation do not equal 100% because of rounding.

8 in 10 NPs Say They're Happy

At a moment when burnout headlines dominate healthcare coverage, most NPs still described themselves as happy and fulfilled. But that number may mask significant variation by specialty and age.

By specialty, 91% of cardiology NPs reported being happy and fulfilled, while only 71% of psychiatry NPs said the same.

Happiness varied by age as well. Among the youngest NPs aged (25-34), 92% were happy and fulfilled, while 77% of NPs aged 45-54 said they were happy.

Female NPs Slightly More Likely To Be Happy, Fulfilled

Female NPs were significantly more likely than male NPs to describe themselves as happy and fulfilled. This may raise questions about whether men and women in nursing experience the profession's demands differently or define "happy and fulfilled" another way.

"For me, better balance has meant setting limits, protecting my time off, and accepting that I can't give everything to my work. It's just not sustainable unless you set boundaries. That's difficult in a profession built around caring for other people, but it's also necessary if you want to stay in it," says Zac Shepherd, RN, an ICU travel nurse with Aya Healthcare.

"I'm honestly very happy with where nursing has taken me," says Jing Castro, MSN, NP-BC, founder of Blue Sky Laser and Tox, an aesthetic medical practice in Arlington, Virginia. "Owning my own practice has also given me a lot of gratification. It's definitely a lot of work, but I get to build the kind of practice I would want to go to myself."

How Career Affects NP's Personal Life

The relationship between career and personal life strengthens notably with age — NPs 65 or older were significantly more likely than those aged 35-44 to say their career improved their personal life quality (65% vs 40%). Combined with the earlier finding that most NPs describe themselves as happy and fulfilled, this suggests that whatever tension exists between nursing and personal life may ease considerably later in a career, rather than compounding over time.

That tracks with a study on nurses' occupational happiness in China, which found that older nurses had the highest occupational happiness of all age groups, including higher satisfaction with professional identity, work environment, salary, and interpersonal relationships.

Do NP's Think Their Quality of Life Is Better Than That of Their Friends In Other Professions?

About one third of NPs reported their quality of life was better than that of their friends in other professions (33%). Roughly the same proportion thought it was worse, and the final share (34%) thought it was the same — a fairly even three-way split.

Clearly, most NPs didn't see a clear-cut quality-of-life advantage or disadvantage.

However, "Compared with some of my [NP] friends who work in areas like nephrology or kidney transplant, I have a better quality of life at this point in my career," says Jing. "Their work is incredibly meaningful, but it can also be very demanding with long hours, very sick patients, and a lot of emotional stress."

4 in 10 NPs Rarely Find Time to Relax

More than one third of NPs rarely or never find time to recharge.

This finding stands in some tension with earlier data showing most NPs consider themselves happy and fulfilled, suggesting that day-to-day depletion and overall life satisfaction aren't necessarily the same.

"I have to sometimes force myself to relax, and it can be difficult to unwind and disconnect, but nurses absolutely must relax," says Pam Vollmer, DNP, RN, AMB-BC, NPD-BC, CEO and director of content at CE Ready, an online continuing education site for nurses.

"There is a popular saying: 'You can't take care of others if you don't take care of yourself.' Nurses, in many regards, have a responsibility to our patients and our families to spend time on self-care. For me, this is often found in the small moments, such as taking a relaxing bath or allowing myself 15 minutes of quiet time to sit and drink my coffee in the morning without doing anything else."

How NPs Rate Their Work-Life Balance

NPs 65 or older were more likely than those aged 45-54 to say they were very satisfied with their current work-life balance (29% vs 16%). This echoes the earlier pattern seen in overall happiness and quality of personal life among NPs at the tail end of their careers.

Additionally, female NPs were more likely than male NPs to feel positively about the direction of their work-life balance (38% vs 25%). And NPs younger than 45 were more likely than those aged 45 or older to feel positively about where their work-life balance was heading (45% vs 32%).

"[Work-life balance is] something I have to actively manage. Nursing can easily become this all-consuming, demanding relationship in your life if you let it, because there is always another shift, another task, or another problem that needs your attention," says Shepherd. "I've had to learn that being committed to my patients and my profession doesn't mean being available every minute of the day."

How Do NPs View Their Personal & Family Time?

NPs seemed to be as content with their family time as with their personal time. This may suggest that even when day-to-day time for oneself feels scarce, many nurses still found ways to protect or prioritize time with family or time for themselves.

How NPs Rate Their Relationship With Family

Family relationships stood out as one of the more positive aspects of NPs' lives in this survey — however, female NPs viewed the direction of their family life more positively than did male NPs (50% vs 26%).

"Nursing has affected my personal life in both directions," says Shepherd. "For me, there's a lot of meaning and purpose in the work, and I've had experiences and relationships through nursing that I wouldn't trade for anything. There is no experience quite like caring for patients, being present, and helping during some of the most important moments of someone's life," he says.

"At the same time, it can be difficult to leave the weight of the work at the hospital when you clock out. The emotions, long hours, and constant demands can affect your energy, your relationships, and how present you feel outside of work. I still struggle with the balance of taking pride in the work I do while also recognizing the negative impact it can have on me."

How NPs Rate Their Friendships

Friendships followed the same broad pattern as family relationships, suggesting an overall sense of forward momentum in NPs' personal relationships. Here, 29% of female NPs were very satisfied with their current friendships vs 14% of male NPs who said the same. Regarding the direction their personal relationships were heading, 22% of female NPs and 11% of male NPs said they felt very positively.

"I make time for friendships both inside and outside of work," says Vollmer. "I find that nurses have special connections with each other because we experience humanity in a way others don't. Things that are normal for us (such as seeing multiple people naked every day and facing death on a routine basis) are unheard of for other people. Because of this, we can relate to each other in a way that we can't relate to our non-nurse friends and family."

How NPs Rate Their Mental Health

NPs felt optimistic about mental well-being. Sixty-four percent felt positively or very positively about its direction, compared to just 13% who felt negatively.

Mental well-being followed the same pattern seen with family relationships and friendships. NPs' outlook on the future tracked closely with, and even slightly exceeded, how they rated their present state. That consistency across multiple personal-life measures suggests broader optimism, rather than any one area standing out as uniquely hopeful or bleak.

The 2026 State of Nursing Survey found that burnout and mental health metrics improved dramatically between 2022 and 2024, and that nurses' core love for the profession has remained steady even amid recent pressures — echoing this survey's finding that most nurses still describe themselves as happy and fulfilled, and optimistic about the direction of their personal well-being, despite the day-to-day demands of the job.

How NPs Rate Their Physical Health

Almost half of NPs aged 45 or older (45%) were somewhat satisfied with their physical health, while only 34% of those under 45 said the same. Similarly, female NPs were more likely to be somewhat satisfied with their physical health than male NPs were (43% vs 28%).

Satisfaction with physical health may also reflect life stage and perspective rather than actual physical condition.