We compared the social, professional, and occupational characteristics of nurses employed by area health authorities and nurses employed by general practitioners by interviewing random samples of 153 nurses in 113 practices situated in four rural and five urban area health authorities in England. The two kinds of nurse were similar in most professional respects but differed in their social characteristics, career patterns, and terms and conditions of employment. They also differed in the singleness of their commitment and the hours they worked in the study practices.